Tumble
by Kai-Chan94
Summary: "You have chosen the way of the fighter. The way of the fighter is difficult and not the easiest thing to learn by oneself. Experience will be the teacher here. As it is, be not afraid of injury for the scars of your venture shall shape the person you become in the future and show those that care for you the history you forged with your own two fists!"
1. Chapter 1

I promised myself that I wouldn't start another fanfiction until I finished Baby Steps, but this one haunted me and stalked me relentlessly in my dreams.

As an Author, I can't and won't choose what comes to me in my dreams and what spawns from the bowels of my imagination. So, please be patient with me and give the story a chance. Also, tell me if you see any mistakes. PLEASE.

I kind of want to say that this is a self-insert since it spawned from a dream about me and...well, read the story to find out, but I also kinda' wanna' say that it's an OC (original character) fic as well. It's...weird. Eh. Enjoy.

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Tumble

Chapter 1

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I stood on a platform that was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was perfectly circular in shape and was made up of what looked like stained glass. Strangely enough, the glass of the platform was completely white when normally it would be filled with pictures bursting with bright and beautiful colors. For some reason this choice in architecture bothered me more than it should have. I felt like there should be a particular picture in the middle of the glass. I ignored the strange feeling, pushing it aside to be examined at a later date.

The white glass was cold beneath my feet as I stepped forward to examine the platform more closely, my eyes widening as I finally noticed the three pedestals sitting unobtrusively in the middle with three different emblems floating above them, emanating a soft white glow. The emblem in the middle had a picture of two glove covered fists and was colored a blood-red. The emblem to the left had a picture of a katana and was colored a deep gray. The final emblem, the one to the right, had a picture of ninja gear on it and was colored an all encompassing black.

I wandered closer, shivering, as the cold traveled up from my feet and made goose bumps cover the flesh of my arms. I was only wearing a white sports bra and a baggy pair of plaid pajama pants cinched tightly to my waist by a black ribbon. It was no wonder I was cold.

"_Choose wisely. The one that you choose shall stay with you forever."_

The Voice—because there was too much power in it to be a regular, human voice—that spoke was neither male nor female. I'm not even sure I could call the Voice an it. It was then that the situation dawned on me. Was this –

"_Kingdom Hearts? Yes. Though I can assure you that this is not a dream. You **are** really here."_

"That's not really an assurance. This could just as easily be a dream," I said wryly. There had to be more evidence then this Voice's _words_ for me to even _begin_ to believe I was in the Kingdom Hearts universe.

"_I can prove my words are true, but you will not like it."_

Before I could open my mouth to retort I was in hell.

_Voices screaming in agony as hearts were devoured by little black shadows with sharp claws that were made for ripping and rending and tearing. Bleached white bones of human remains stained with the red of blood. Rivers running with the red of the dead. The sun and the moon and the stars blotted out by complete darkness. The world, ripping itself asunder. Salem, one of my best friends, blood burbling out from her mouth like the river water that had once ran clear and clean, her large hazel-blue eyes begging, pleading for me to end her suffering. Walking closer, noticing the holes in her body like bullets and the rips in her flesh like knives. Me, baseball bat in hand, sobbing. **Dead.** Kitty, my best friend since seven, watching her be raped and violated while I'm pinned down by a bullet through my spine, slowly bleeding out and screaming, screaming, **screaming **–_

I awoke to myself still screaming and trying to claw my own eyes out. I ripped my nails away from my flesh and hugged myself, trembling.

"_I am sorry it had to come to this, but we do not have the time to sit here and argue back and forth like children. Your world is completely gone and there is no chance of ever getting it back. You need to listen to me before we run out of time."_

"Why did you save me?" I asked, voice utterly _destroyed_. I sounded like I'd been chewing gravel all my life and then put my vocal chords through a blender. Yeah, it sounded _that bad._ My eyes were unfocused, blood flowing down like ribbons from the deep gouges I'd inflicted upon myself and tears mixing with the blood in a macabre mess, and I didn't care. "Why? I was going to die. I _was_ dying."

"_I do not have the time to explain. As of this moment you are my final Warrior and last resort. Please, if you do not set out on this important venture all may be lost. The Keyblade Master cannot handle everything on his own. Even he has a breaking point."_

Whatever. I didn't care anymore. I just wanted to do whatever this voice told me to do and then go someplace quiet where I could die in peace but...I couldn't do that to Kitty. To Salem. My best friends in the whole wide, vast universe. They would want me to live, despite their deaths. They would want me to fulfill my dreams and experience new and interesting things in their stead since they would no longer be able to.

Still...how could everything just be gone? All those worlds swallowed by the Heartless were released from darkness by the opening of Kingdom Hearts, but for the exception of Squall's home world. Was my world like his in the sense that it just completely disappeared? If that were the case then was there some even more twisted foe out there, more powerful then the Heartless? And, if there was, how was he or she doing damage of such magnitude by themselves? Were they just that powerful? Or was this Xemnas and his plot for a heart of his own all over again?

My head pounded from a combination of ever flowing tears and thoughts that threatened to make me scream until I forced myself to forget my nonstop questions and speculations and remembered screams and pain. Kitty was always telling me that I thought too much for my own good. Sometimes one just had to go with the flow and hope that the waves of life didn't drag you under while you did so.

That said, and mind made up, I forced myself to stand, my legs nearly buckling beneath me from the harsh tremors they bombarded me with. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, wiping the tears from my cheeks.

"_It is time to choose now, if you have calmed down. We do not have forever here and there is still so much to do."_

"I get it already. I just needed a minute," I said, voice soft and hoarse. Since I was already in front of the pedestal with the fist covered emblem I reached out, hand cupped, and was surprised by the sheer _rightness_ that filled my chest.

The tips of my fingers were just about to touch the warmth of the emblem when the Voice interrupted with a, _"Are you sure? Once you've chosen you cannot go back. Perhaps you should weigh your other options before making your final decision."_

I slowly took my hand back, the sound advice echoing in my head. I turned to the left and the emblem with the sword on it. I've always liked swords. To me they are a dignified weapon that takes care of you so long as _you_ take care of _it_. That included keeping it sharp, shiny, and assigning it a name. I'd always wanted one and would've paid for a custom job in my own world once I had the money to do so but...it looked like that wasn't going to be a possibility now.

I shook my head to empty my mind of ever encroaching morbid thoughts. Cupping my hand I hovered over the gray emblem with the picture of the sword. It also felt right to me, just...not as much as the red colored emblem with the fists. I backed away and walked towards the final emblem, the one with the ninja gear on it, but before I could even get close enough to cup my hand towards the emblem for a final time my mind suddenly screamed at me to back away, that I was not some ninja-wannabe named _Naruto._

I back-pedaled hastily and nearly fell on my ass. That had never happened before. Not that I had had many experiences of this kind. I'm a writer so when I dream I try to dream about the characters I make up so as to avoid these kinds of situations. Otherwise this confusing stuff happens and everything becomes all kinds of awkward.

"_...We've never had that kind of reaction before..."_

I could feel myself blushing. Instead of giving into my embarrassment I walked back over to the first emblem and cupped my hand toward it for a final time. It felt as warm as ever and I was again greeted by that feeling of total _rightness_ that had appeared previously. I was sure of my decision and, as such, I finally gave into the urge to touch it.

What happened next surprised me. The emblem, glowing a warm and cheery red like that of a fire, shot into my chest. I gasped as the warmth spread throughout my torso, down through the length of my arms, past my belly, and all the way down to the tips of my toes. It felt like that feeling that you get on days when the weather was cold and you've just come in from playing outside. That feeling of being wrapped in a blanket, drinking hot co-co, and surrounded by friends. Yeah...that kind of warm, happy feeling.

"_You have chosen the way of the fighter. The way of the fighter is difficult and not the easiest thing to learn by oneself. Experience will be the teacher here. As it is, be not afraid of injury for the scars of your venture shall shape the person you become in the future and show those that care for you the history you forged with your own two fists!"_

The warm feeling of the emblem entering my chest died down until I felt like my normal self again but...something was...different. Muscles stood out in stark relief against my arms and I was now in possession of a fairly noticeable four-pack. Long, curly black hair with bloody-red streaks in it brushed my hips and tickled my bare back. My eyes seemed sharper than before and my skin a smoother, light caramel tone. The blood and wounds that I had inflicted upon myself were gone, as if they had never been. It was with a start that I realized that I wasn't imagining things again. My body really had changed. This skin wasn't my own, but somebody else's. My character Kai's to be exact as weird as that sounded.

As stated previously, I was a writer back in my own world. I make no claim at being a good one, but I was one all the same. This body belonged to my character Kai Chan. A kick-ass fighter that was more than a little unstable and had a foul mouth for the ages, but how did I end up in her body? Did the Voice read my mind or something?

"_Now, the last portion of this venture is to find you a partner. Someone who will stand by your side no matter what and who will be your lifeline in times of peril. They will also be the one to hold your sanity in their hands. Choose this one more carefully than ever before. There is only one condition."_

I raised my brow. "And what is that?"

"_The person you choose must be dead."_

"Dead?" I questioned, a dark smirk growing in my minds eye. "Then I choose Goku—"

"_Okay, I lied. The person has to be someone in the Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy universe—as you know it anyways—otherwise you might throw the known events of the future into turmoil."_

I scowled, but saw the Voice's point. Goku would be the ultimate cheat a.k.a. God Mod, but he was so powerful he just might upset the balance of this universe. I shudder to think of what might happen if Sora ever discovered their world. He would be bound by his honor and his sweetheart tendencies to constantly help them and it would more than likely get him killed. Hopefully that world didn't exist in this universe. Whatever this so-called mission was I had a gut feeling that it would involve me, my as-of-yet-unnamed-partner, and world hopping and if that world existed, I wanted no part of it.

So, with Goku out, I placed my chin in my hand and thought, long and hard with no end in sight. It wasn't that I couldn't think of anyone, it was just that most of who I thought of I didn't know if they were dead or alive and when I asked the Voice it only told me that it couldn't answer my questions when it came to this. The choice had to completely be up to me with no outside influence. With that option out I continued on thinking and was just about to give up and go for broke (any random choice, really) when I thought of the recent game I'd been playing and grinned.

"I know! I choose Zack Fair!" I yelled, practically vibrating in place. He was one of my favorite characters besides Roxas and Squall "Leon" Leonhart. Plus, he was dead! Wait...wow, I just sounded like a complete and utter bitch right there.

I was talking about these people as if they were still characters in a video game. From now on I had to think of them as living, breathing people with thoughts and dreams of their own. Well, soon to be living in Zack's case but I digress. Anyways, it made me feel good inside to be able to do this favor for him. Zack was a good man that didn't deserve the fate that befell him. I would be honored to bring him back and allow him to see his friends again.

Despite my good intentions I also knew that someday, even if we grew close like the Voice told me we would, I would have to let him go. I don't think I would be comfortable staying on a world with people I had only thought of as characters to mess with at my convenience, plus the guilt would probably kill me. I held no illusions about not growing attached to Zack. It was impossible not to grow attached to him—to say the least. I guess the only thing I could do was wing it like I usually did for all the serious situations I faced. Something Zack and I had in common.

"_Zack Fair? That is someone we have not heard of in a long, long while, but it is viable."_

"So," I started, "now that we have all that out of the way, could you please explain to me what exactly this so called 'mission' entails?"

"_There is no problem in telling you now. The question is, if your heart is ready to hear me."_

I raised a brow, but held my tongue.

"_Your mission entails—"_

I remained focused, but didn't hear anything aside from the beginning.

"I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?"

The Voice obliged me, but I still couldn't hear a thing.

"_It happens. Some people aren't yet strong enough in heart to handle the information given so it is blocked out until the time that they can without breaking down."_

I nodded my head in agreement. That actually made sense and if Kitty and Salem were here I'm pretty sure they'd nod and agree along with me. We were all like minded that way.

"_Now, you didn't want to go out into the big, bad universe in your pajamas did you?"_

I looked down and smiled sheepishly. Hey, I wasn't planning on going on any intergalactic journeys last night when I got shot. Sue me.

"_Look in the bag in front of you."_

I looked down like the Voice ordered me to and saw a blue, red, and black plaid backpack at my feet. Magic. Jeez. I walked towards it and kneeled, unzipping the main part and peering inside.

I was greeted by a simple pair of fingerless, black leather gloves that would extend to my wrists if they were on my hands. They were laid on top of a black t-shirt and underneath the shirt was a pair of camouflage army-cargo pants that led down to a pair of simple brown colored combat boots that had a flat, half-inch heel.

I took the outfit out and quickly put it on. The clothes were comfortable enough. Easy to move in too. The t-shirt clung to my skin, showing off my new muscles and a small strip of my stomach. I didn't much like the "showing stomach" bit, but it was better than what I had come here in. The army-cargo pants also clung to my legs but I liked that infinitely more than I liked the t-shirt showing off my stomach. It meant that there would be no unnecessary cloth that could end up getting in my way or tripping me up during a vital moment. There was even a black belt with a skull decorating the front and acting as a clasp to complete the outfit and a pair of dark, goggle-like shades that I could wear. I already had a pair of studs in my ears that I kept from my original body. Add all of that and you get one badass picture.

I spun around once to get a feel for my new clothes. Everything was comfortable and easy to move in, just like I'd predicted. I clenched my fists to check out the gloves and found that I loved the smooth feeling of leather, or whatever these things were made of, gliding over my skin. The sunglasses slid into my hair, behind my ears and stayed there. I even checked to make sure they'd stay there by jumping around like a demented bunny rabbit. I actually looked like I was from the Kingdom Hearts universe. If only changing clothes could save the world.

"_And now that you have changed into something more suited to your new environment, here is your partner."_

Something above me suddenly came into being. I was just barely able to catch a glimpse of spiky, black hair before I was being crushed by a heavy weight.

I yelped, my eyes widening at Zack's unconscious face so close to my own. I quieted and carefully shifted him into my lap, surprised at how easy moving him was compared to how heavy my mind thought he was going to be. I guess my new muscles weren't all for show then. Cool.

"_My bad, but it's time for you to go."_

The platform suddenly shattered beneath us and I screamed at the abrupt change as we plummeted forever into darkness, the backpack that I had been given flying off in a random direction. I clung to Zack tightly, afraid that if I relented in my grip even the slightest bit that we would be separated and I would be alone.

"_Good luck, Kai Chan. You have quite the journey ahead of you. Be strong and...don't share the ice cream."_

I couldn't hear anymore as my consciousness finally decided to take the cowards way out and flee for its life. Yeah, consciousness. Screw you too.

* * *

"Hey! Yoo-hoo! Are you awake? Come on, I don't know what to do with unconscious girls in the middle of nowhere!"

I groaned, reached up, and then shoved the blurry face hovering in front of me away. I glared at it until it slowly swam into focus. Zack grinned at me and then carefully slipped an arm behind me and helped me sit up. My head pounded and I immediately felt nauseous. I groaned and slumped forward, hiding my face in the black material of Zack's shirt. It, oddly enough, smelled like chocolate and laundry detergent.

"Come on kid. I need you to wake up enough to tell me where we are. If you do that I can get you to a hospital and find out where my little buddy is at," Zack chattered, cradling the back of my head as he slowly pulled me away from his shirt.

I grunted and peered around with half-lidded eyes. Nothing but forest surrounded us on all sides. I could hear the sounds of birds chirping in the branches of the trees high above the ground. Water burbled and trickled along somewhere to my left and I could smell the strong, sweet scent of strawberries. All in all I had no idea where we were, besides the obvious forest scene.

"Hell if I know," I groaned and pressed my face back into his shirt. The light was irritating my eyes and making the pain in my head double. If there was a choice between the pain of nature and the dark delicious scent of Zack's shirt I'd choose the shirt every time.

"Okay kid," Zack soothed and the next thing I knew I was sitting sideways in his arms, my own wrapped around his neck and my eyes wide from surprise, "you don't have to worry about ah thing. I'll take care of ya'. Can you tell me yer name darlin'?"

I blinked, but then managed to stutter, "I-it's Kai."

Why had I just said that? I had meant to give him my birth name, but instead I had given him the name of my character and the nickname my friends back home on obliterated Earth called me. Did I, in coming to this universe, actually become Kai in every way, not just appearance? Though, I wouldn't call the thing I was suddenly afflicted with an accident or even a prevention of fact. I...honestly couldn't remember my true name.

That fact scared me almost as much as losing my entire world. I felt chilled and sick down to my core. My name was such a large part of who I was, it seemed almost blasphemous to _not_ know it. It felt like my entire identity had been ripped from me in one fell swoop and it left me reeling and reaching for some form of comfort so I buried my face in Zack's neck, my tears soaking into his skin. I couldn't bring myself to be ashamed of my actions. Zack was a big boy. He could handle being my comfort puppy for a few minutes.

"What's wrong darlin'?" Zack asked, smoothing a hand down my back. I sobbed harder and clung to him, refusing to show him my tear stained face. It was embarrassing. Zack permitted my actions and continued to rub his hand up and down my back in a comforting manner.

I stopped crying about ten minutes later. I pulled back and wiped the remnants of my tears from my eyes and cheeks. Once I was done cleaning my face as best I could I peered up at Zack shyly. Catching my gaze with his bright amethyst orbs he smiled and ruffled my hair.

"Sorry," I whispered, voice rough. "Didn't mean to lose it right there."

"It's okay kid. Wanna' talk about it?"

Zack's smile was reassuring, but I had no desire to tell him anything about my world and the knowledge that came with it. Maybe when he found his friends I could tell him—if I was with him that long that is. At least then we could cut things off between us cleanly instead of there being lingering ties. Besides, Cloud and Aeris had missed him so much it hurt just to think about it. If I could help heal that pain even the slightest bit then it would be worth it. I just...had to think of what to do with myself before then. That, and I needed to stop crying at every drop of a penny. It wasn't like me at all. I may be a bit of a cry-baby sometimes, but when I cried I usually did it away from anyone who could see. I guess Zack was just special like that.

"No. Sorry about that." With the last of my tears wiped away I smiled and held out a glove covered hand. "Let's try this again. My name is Kai Chan. What's yours?"

Zack looked a little hesitant to let my crying episode go. I held my breath and nearly cried all over again when he decided to trust me for the moment and took my hand with a strong, "Zack. Zackary Fair. Nice ta' meet ya' little lady."

"Nice to meet you too." For the first time since that awful day began I looked fully at Zack. He stared back with his bright amethyst orbs, his mass of spikes tumbling out and falling to his muscled shoulders. He was wearing a black muscle shirt with black pants that looked really similar to my own. There were a couple of belts on his person and an empty harness hanging from his back that I knew was for Buster. He had large, brown combat boots on his feet that were a little worse for wear, but also looked pretty snug and comfortable. He resembled what he looked like in the game when he busted himself and Cloud out of the laboratory under Shinra Mansion.

"Now," I stood up and looked around once more. The forest was just as mysterious and unhelpful as before, "I guess we should find out where the heck we are, huh?"

"Right." Zack nodded and then asked, "So, do you know how we ended up here? Last thing I remember was giving my Buster Blade to my friend Cloud and then seeing Angeal and feathers and death pulling me out of my body and then BAM! Instant materialization right here in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere and that's saying something considering I come from Gongaga."

I couldn't help it. I laughed. Zack just had this...childish, loving aura around him that told you that you would be safe in his care no matter what. I needed that right now more than anything.

"No. I don't really know how we ended up here." Which was true no matter what else you tried to tell me. Now, if he asked me the _events_ that led up to us being here then I really _would_ have to lie as I still had no intention of informing him about my world. The Dive to the Heart _maybe_, but definitely not the whole 'girl from another universe where you are nothing but a video game character' spiel. "Do you want to have a look around?" It was about then that his words caught up with my brain. I froze and whirled around, exclaiming, "You remember you died?!"

Zack quirked a brow. "Of course I remember I died. Not such an easy thing to forget."

I gulped nervously and let out a tiny, "Oh..."

"Question is, how did you know I died? You sounded like _you_ knew I was dead but was surprised that _I_ knew I was dead. I'm pretty sure you weren't there when I kicked the bucket. Then again I was in bad shape. I'm pretty sure Cloud could've been doing the hustle in a tiny little mini-skirt right on my face and I wouldn't've noticed nothin' except my nerves acting like tiny little explosions that were hellbent on causing me as much pain as possible before I kicked the bucket."

I let out a snort at the mental imagery and made a mental note to get someone decent at drawing to do one like that for me later. It was just too good to pass up.

With a shake of my head to bring me back on topic I slowly and haltingly told him about the Dive to the Heart, making sure to leave out all the things that hit a little too close to home, though I did tell him that my world was gone for good and about the Heartless threat and the different kinds there were.

That nearly killed me—to say those words aloud. They'd been in my head, never far from my mind, but I'd never had to actually sit down and explain this all to another human being. It was too soon and my nerves were scrubbed raw, but I endured and persevered. Zack was the exception. I only had to tell him about it once and then never speak of it again if I so chose.

By the time I was finished with my story Zack was staring at me with wide eyes, his expression sympathetic. I didn't know how I felt about that. I didn't even know what I was feeling at all. If I had to be feeling an emotion I guess it would be drained, but at the same time it felt like my heart was full to bursting with something heavy and cold. Maybe I was depressed. Who knows? I was handling it better then I thought I would and if it went out of control I guess I could run off and steal some anti-depressants. Not something I would normally do, but hey. What could you do?

"That sucks," Zack said bluntly.

I snorted. "Like you wouldn't believe."

Zack scratched his chin, his eyebrows furrowed as we started to walk in a random direction. "Do you think that might have happened to my world as well?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I think it's impossible to truly know."

Zack's own shoulders slumped forward and he looked just like a kicked puppy. I flinched at the puppy-dog eyes he aimed at me and reached out to draw him into a tight, awkward side-hug like I'd seen other boys do. He accepted the arms around his waist and stopped walking to draw me into a proper hug. God, this day was just depressing.

After we stayed in that position for a while he set me back down and we continued on in silence. As we walked, I wondered idly what had happened to the bag the Voice had given me. It wasn't back in the clearing Zack and I woke up in, nor did I see it anywhere as we walked. Did it get dropped in some other world when I failed to grab it? That would just suck, but between Zack and the bag I'd rather have Zack. At least he could keep me company.

A few hours passed in surprising silence. Zack still looked a little down and I, quite frankly, didn't have anything to say. I was too busy thinking about what we should do from now on. Depending on which world Zack and I were on we could probably buy or commandeer a Gummi ship and head to the nearest world. I knew that we wouldn't know which world we were landing on until we actually _landed_, but it would be better than sitting around twiddling our thumbs and doing nothing. Now, if I could only find that bag I'd been given by the Voice...

"Hey," Zack interrupted my thoughts, nudging me and pointing towards a deserted cement road below us.

Small, compact cars lay abandoned like the scattered remnants of a child's play area. Lights flickered erratically in places, casting long shadows across the ground. It was eerily silent. No sounds of honking horns, no sounds of bustling adults or laughing children. It was like a ghost town from an old cowboy movie and it left both Zack and I rather uneasy. I could tell because he kept twitching his shoulder at every step we took and grasping his hands as if wanting to grab something and hold it in front of him. I presumed it was his Buster sword.

"Well, that isn't creepy in the least," I commented, idly kicking away a can that was in my path.

"Nope. It's mega creepy," Zack said absently, eyes darting at every slight shift of shadow or sigh of wind.

We walked along a huge white wall for ten minutes and Zack eventually got so bored of being twitchy that he started poking my side at every given opportunity. I, being extremely ticklish, burst out laughing long before his finger ever touched my side which amused him. Greatly.

"Knock it off! That tickles!" I yelled and burst into another fit of giggles, swatting at the hand with the evil poking finger of doom. We were supposed to be paying attention to our surroundings not goofing around!

"But I'm bored and there's nothing happening soooooo...why not?" Zack's grin should've split his face in two but the only thing that happened was that he got past my pitiful guard for the umpteenth time and poked me in the side.

Large houses started popping up on either side of us without us noticing all too much. It was only until we got to be in front of a large, but plain metal gate that we finally took notice of our surroundings.

And that was only because the Heartless had finally taken the opportunity to arrive.

My heartbeat sped up to dangerous levels and my eyes widened with fear. The last time I saw these little unassuming monsters, they were ripping my world apart from the inside, out. I know that I was given powers with my rebirth as Kai Chan, but how did I use them? Did I have to think of a magical word? Call my attacks by name like everyone else did in the games? And how was Zack going to fight them without Buster? And even if he did have it would my explanation about Heartless and their ilk hurt or help? OhshitIdidn'tknow_whattodo—_

A large hand dropped onto my head and ruffled my hair. I felt Zack put his head on my shoulder and I glanced over only to see him giving me a soft, reassuring smile.

"It's okay darlin'," Zack said. "I may fight with a sword—and wait 'till you see it 'cause it's _huge—_but I was trained to use my fists and surroundings to my advantage. Sephiroth would've had my head if I was any less then perfect so while I'm not the best fist-fighter out there I know enough to protect us. I may be a bit rusty because of the whole dead thing and all, but I won't let us die."

I immediately felt ashamed of myself. Here Zack was, devoid of a weapon and openly admitting to being rusty because of his death and he was _still_ trying to protect me. Here I was, all the cards and knowledge in my hands, and still, _still_ I was being a coward. So what if I didn't know how to fight? Zack was here. He wouldn't let me get stabbed in the back. I wished we had a couple of potions or ethers if things got dicey, but we had what we had and there wasn't anything we could do about it at the moment except fight.

"No." I shook my head. "I'll fight. I know how, I just never used it against anything but pathetic bullies." My eyes narrowed dangerously and, with a quick glance at Zack who looked more then ready to protect my back, I ran forward to attack the approaching enemy, yelling, "Let's go!"

The first Heartless I came across was the pure-blood, tiny one that you first fight against in all the Kingdom Hearts games. Unlike the Kingdom Hearts games, however, the Shadow Heartless were pretty fast. I felt kind of cheated. Like if you were in a zombie apocalypse and you found out that the zombies could run. Trust me. You'd feel kind of cheated too.

Once I reached the Heartless I lashed out with a glove covered fist. I fully expected to hit it, maybe not cause any damage, but hit it nonetheless.

That's why it was so much more embarrassing when the Shadow Heartless dove into its own shadow and I tripped over my feet in an effort to stop my momentum and fell flat on my face.

Two Mega-Shadows, basically the slightly bigger and stronger version of a Shadow Heartless, jumped towards my prone form, threatening to tear open my back as easily as paper when Zack intercepted the two attacks and forced them off to the side.

"Be patient and watch your opponents movements," Zack instructed as he yanked me up by the back of my shirt. He set me on my feet and said, "Because you're a fist-fighter you're going to be getting closer to your enemies then anyone else. You can't let your guard down, not even for a second or you'll end up dog chow."

Face still burning I nodded and rushed forward for a second time, cocked back my fist, and let it fly towards the face of the first Shadow Heartless I'd attempted to attack.

My fist connected with its face with a sickening crack. My eyes widened into small moons. That wasn't supposed to happen. I _knew_ that wasn't supposed to happen. Heartless were supposed to disappear in a puff of glittery darkness not stagger back with red, _human_ blood flowing from its newly created wound and expel a shriek so inhuman and dark that it made shivers travel up my spine.

"Finish it!" Zack yelled, snapping me from my distressed thoughts.

So I took his advice and I did.

I became a bit of a machine after that. My knuckles bruised and split, the tender flesh not used to hitting things over and over again. I didn't want to think. Reality wasn't like the games at all. Reality was much scarier. I wanted to puke as the putrid red blood flew up from my battering fists and splattered against my clothes, gloves, and face. Don't stop. Never stop. Keep going until the dirty deed was _done. _Those were the only things going through my mind over and over and over again.

"Kai! _Kai!_ Honey, yer done! You can stop now!"

I came back into myself punching an already dead Mega-Shadow, tears streaming down my face. Once Zack saw I had come back into myself he wrapped his arms around my waist and yanked me up to his chest. I sobbed and wrapped my own arms around his neck.

"I'm sorry. I promised myself I'd stop crying, but I've never killed anything before aside from bugs and they sounded _horrible_ and they were _bleeding_ and—"

"Shhhhh," Zack hushed and rocked me back and forth, slowly and gently. In my half-hysterical mind I had a thought that he'd make a wonderful father. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that of you. You're just a kid..."

I stopped crying much sooner this time, but I was utterly and completely disgusted with myself and maybe even a little shocked. I had killed today. I had the blood still splattered across my body to prove it. Was this truly my reality now? All this bloodshed and darkness? I may have been surrounded by it on my own world but it had never affected me to this point. Today was just too much. Too much, too fast, too soon. I was completely drained.

Zack set me down and I stared blankly ahead. He frowned, concerned, but ultimately decided to say nothing. I couldn't blame him. What could he say? Sorry I had to ask you to fight to save our skins? Sorry he didn't have his weapon even though he was dead for who knew how many years? There wasn't anything _to_ say.

That was when we heard a sudden gunshot and a bullet went whizzing over our heads. It lodged in the head of a Shadow Heartless that had popped up behind us without our knowing. It came a little too close for comfort.

"I hit it? I hit it! Woo-hoo!" A cheerful, male voice yelled.

I turned around to get a glimpse of our one-shot wonder and couldn't help but stare.

Long, light gray hair fell to the middle of his back. Gray eyes, sparkling with humor only known to them focused on us and thin lips pulled back to reveal a full, beaming smile. There was a large hunting rifle in his hands and I wondered if Japan even allowed their citizens to have such large guns within city limits. Then I found myself thinking that the laws probably didn't apply to Ayame Sohma who could charm the clothes back on a nudist.

I was going to end up going to a lot of worlds with people I knew on it, wasn't I?

"That was a little too close for comfort, huh? Good thing I was here or you might've ended up monster chow," Ayame said cheerfully as he skipped over to us and his eyes fell on me.

He looked over my disheveled state shrewdly, his smile never wavering. I suppose I should've been feeling nervous under his gaze, but I only surprisingly felt the need to take a very long and very hot shower.

"You two look like you need some R & R, not to mention food," Ayame said. He grabbed me by the hand and tugged me after him with Zack scrambling in the background to catch up and to process what just happened. I was still trying to process it myself, but there was one thing that I did know.

We were in the Fruits Basket world and I was doomed.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for reading the story Falcner and Kittenz Koni. It makes me happy that someone out there is enjoying it.

Zack kinda' surprised me with how human he's behaving. I thought I'd have problems humanizing him in my character's eyes (technically myself), but he just seemed to go easily with the flow I'd built up.

Seriously. Zack is epic.

* * *

Tumble

Chapter 2

* * *

I relaxed into the hot water of the bath, aware of, but not paying attention to, Zack's screwing around as he whistled and sang as he cleaned the grime and blood from his body. I had finished my own cleaning in record time and had settled into the large tub to soak my aches and pains away. I thought bathing with Zack, a guy, would be awkward at best. Either Zack was oblivious or he just didn't care. _I_ didn't care. Zack was an overly affectionate puppy. The day he discovered the wonders of sex is the day I...still wouldn't worry. He's _Zack._

Besides, it wasn't like we had a choice. Ayame had explained to us, as he led us to what he called the Sohma Compound, that the Heartless had shown up around one month ago and it took the entire world by surprise.

America and Great Britain were the first to respond to the threat. They sent out troops across their own nations to combat the Heartless, but when they found that the threat was growing too large to be contained they locked down all borders and ordered the people to arm themselves with whatever they had on hand and to stay indoors if possible. America then ordered a platoon of sixty thousand men and women to each state with orders to recruit more volunteers once they established a base of operations. So far, the short-term plan was prevailing but nobody knew how long that would last.

Great Britain and a great deal of other countries tried the same thing with varying results. China, however, was the one hit the hardest by the Heartless. It seemed that most people had found out the hard way that Heartless were attracted to places with large concentrations of people. China had _the_ largest population of people in the world with India being a close second. Beijing, the capital of China, was almost completely decimated in four days time. That had most of its citizens screaming about the Apocalypse because in China four was an unlucky number because, to them, it sounded like their word for death.

Japan was a bit luckier. Because of the forewarning from various websites (and wasn't it just amazing that we still had time to keep the internet running when the world was in danger of being destroyed?) the citizens had time to run down to various gun stores, ammo shops, and grocery stores to get stocked up. They were amazingly well organized and there were only a few minor riots in Tokyo and Kyoto that were quickly quelled with minor violent incidents and, amazingly, no deaths.

Zack got a bit lost during the explanation, but I explained it to him using examples from his own world and he got it easily enough after that. He had nodded in understanding anyways, but I noticed that there there was a bit of muted surprise in his gaze. When I asked about it he just waved me off so I let it be.

Ayame's family, the Sohma's, had quickly gathered at their family compound under the orders of their head of the family, Akito. He had ordered the family to gather at the compound because, in his words, though the compound was larger and not as easily guarded, there was the advantage of numbers, space, and a backup generator that had been around since the dark ages, as Ayame put it. There were only a few dozen people actually inside the gates though. Most of the Sohma's went to their own homes when the shit hit the fan and now found themselves trapped there.

Our introduction to Ayame's family could've gone better. I'm guessing that the timeline we were in for the Fruits Basket universe was just after Tohru got out of the hospital because when we met Tohru and Kyo, they were really lovey-dovey, but I noticed that their bodies didn't touch once, not even for an innocent hug. I had to resist the urge to gag and coo simultaneously at the tragic mushiness. Zack did gag.

Akito was really leery of letting us stay with them, but when Ayame pointed out our destruction of the Heartless with nothing but our bare hands he reluctantly let us stay, if only to learn our secrets I assume. I almost ruined our chances though when I informed Akito that I would likely have to borrow some of her clothes because she was pretty much the only one with boobs as small as mine. The look of shock I received for my comment was priceless.

Two hours of drama and one bullshit excuse later, Zack and I were in the family baths getting rid of the filth covering us and the exhaustion soaking into our bones. I was hoping that this exhaustion wouldn't be a permanent fixture of my new life and that with more experience, I would gain more stamina. I just couldn't believe how tired I was from that one little fight! Against Shadows to boot!

Water splashed up over the sides of the tub as Zack came over and settled into the bath. He was warm and I was slightly cold since my shoulders and head were sticking out of the water so I cuddled into his side and grabbed his arm in a loose hug.

Zack gazed at me, amused. "Cold?"

"A bit," I replied, shivering. "Mostly tired. And hungry too."

"Me too. I wonder if this world has the same kinds of foods as home," Zack mused.

"This place is a lot like my world's Japan," I said, stirring the water in front of me with my hand. "In Japan, I know they ate a lot of rice and fish since they lived right by the ocean, but I don't know if it'll be the exact same."

"Yum." Zack licked his lips as his stomach rumbled. "Fish. I haven't had that in a while." He leaned back against the porcelain tub and muttered, "What I wouldn't give for some onion rings. I've had the worst craving for onion rings and a chocolate malt since I woke up."

I cracked a grin and poked his stomach. "I don't blame you. I can hear your tummy growling from here."

Zack ruffled my wet hair with his free hand. "Aren't you cravin' anything?"

"Your craving sounds good, but I want chicken and dumpling soup."

We both moaned at the thought.

We finished soaking in the tub about half an hour later and that was only because Tohru came up to inform us that dinner was ready. Our stomachs were the deciding factor in that one. If she wasn't offering food I was pretty sure that Zack and I would've remained in the tub until we fainted from the heat.

We trailed lazily down the stairs after getting dressed in the small space available outside the bathing room. Since I had lost the backpack that the Voice had given me I only had what was on me. That meant I had nothing to sleep in, plus I was having...girl problems.

Luckily, Tohru spotted me some supplies for my problem and a man that I knew as Hatori spotted me a sky blue, button-up shirt to sleep in. I needed no shorts or pants since the shirt fell a few inches below my thighs. Hatori also loaned Zack a button-up, except his barely fit him since he was so tall and muscular. He had to walk around in a pair of boxers that someone loaned him for the same reasons. None of the pants in the house fit him. None. If it wasn't so funny it would be a little sad. Poor Zack.

"Hello. Did you have a nice bath?" Tohru asked as we walked into the kitchen. Her eyes widened at our appearance and she blushed. "Oh, my! Is that all that fits?"

"Yep. I figured it was okay since Zack was going to be walking around in his boxers anyways. I'm pretty comfortable actually," I replied.

She gave us a sweet smile and handed us a plate full of food and a glass of milk. She waved us towards the second opening in the kitchen. "Everybody else is out in the front room. Go ahead and make yourselves at home."

I followed Zack into the room with the others and settled by his side, digging into my food without hesitation. He was much the same. We'd been hungry for a while. Could you blame us?

The Sohma family watched us for a few minutes when we first came in, but soon settled into their own discussions. I paid particular attention to the conversation between Hatori and Haru. They were talking about the Heartless and the reasons for why they had appeared. I found myself debating if I should just tell them and get the conversation over with, or hold out until Zack opened his big mouth and told them himself. I was rooting for the second one. While I felt more human then I did before my bath I still didn't feel much like talking.

"We already know that the monsters are attracted to large populations of people, but is there another reason that just hasn't been discovered yet?" Haru asked in his quiet rumble, his gray blue eyes serious.

"Pure hearts," I found myself saying as I finished my plate.

The stares I received from the many members of the Sohma family and (secretly) the Chinese Zodiac made me a bit nervous. I settled myself more firmly against Zack's warm body and, after his arm came up to press me firmly into his side, I relaxed enough to explain.

"To be frank, those creatures you call monsters are actually called Heartless. There are as many different Heartless as there are different animals. They exist to consume pure hearts because they no longer have their own. All Heartless at one time were human, just like you and I."

Gasps rang out and Tohru turned as pale as snow. Kyo grabbed her hand as if to comfort her, his own face looking grim.

"And how do you know this?" he asked.

"I've seen it," I replied bluntly.

I never did get why Mickey had ordered Sora and the rest to keep the whole "multiple worlds" thing a secret. Well, I did get it. I just thought it was stupid to follow it. I get not telling everybody. It would cause a world wide panic, but if the Heartless had already invaded a particular world then shouldn't they be given the information simply to keep the deaths to a minimum? There were advantages and disadvantages to each choice, but I'd always preferred my option and what Mickey didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Besides, I had the advantage of knowing these people entirely. I _knew_ they wouldn't betray us.

"But _how?_" Kyo continued, crimson eyes narrowing.

Sighing, I explained to the large group about the different worlds that were out there. As expected, they didn't believe me. So I cheated a bit.

"Zack," I said as I looked up at him. When I had his attention I asked, "Do you know magic?"

Zack's brows furrowed. "I'm not sure. On my world I had to use Materia, the solidified lifeblood of the planet, to use magic. I'm not sure how it is on other worlds though."

"Can you try? We need some kind of proof to get them to believe us."

Zack gazed at me seriously. "Of course I'll try, but I want you to try too."

I blinked. "Me? But I don't know how to use magic."

He shrugged, grinning. "No time like the present."

I rolled my eyes.

Zack twisted around so that he was facing me. I sobered quickly and copied him, crossing my legs beneath me. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, his hands cupped in front of him. I did the same. The Sohma family was quiet aside from a few whispers as they watched. I assumed it was because they wanted proof. They already knew magic existed, it was in their family for generations after all, in the form of a very painful curse, but maybe they wanted to see what other kinds of magic existed out there if they did. A healthy dose of skepticism never hurt anyone.

"What kind of element are you most attuned with?" Zack whispered after about five minutes of sitting silently. I cracked open an eye, but his own eyes were still closed and he looked somewhat peaceful. Unfortunately, I didn't know the answer to his question so I gave him a questioning shrug.

I had forgotten his eyes were closed, but he seemed to have no trouble understanding me as he cracked a half-smile and uncupped his hands to place one over my heart. His hand was warm against my chest and I unconsciously relaxed as the warm feeling from my transformation at the Voice's proverbial hands spread throughout my entire body. It was comforting and familiar, like coming home.

"My affinity lies with the wind element," Zack whispered. I almost didn't hear it because he timed it with his breathing. It was surprisingly soothing and I leaned forward a fraction, putting a bit more pressure on my thighs. Zack's brow furrowed slightly as he concentrated, his half-smile making a reappearance. "The core of your energy feels warm – reliable and loving and comforting. I think your affinity lies with fire. That's going to make one hell of a wicked combination later when we get into the groove of things."

I almost broke my concentration from the pure excitement that filled my veins. Fire was my favorite element and I really shouldn't be surprised. My character Kai had an elemental affinity for fire and even bent it to her will in her own world. I should be no different since I'm in her body, but then again I _could_ have ended up with a different element. I'm strongly attuned to wind, my personality a bit flighty at times and random. Maybe I should be surprised after all.

"So what do I do now?" I breathed.

"Slowly extract the energy from your core. Not much – maybe just a tendril – and let it flow throughout the rest of your body. That's how Cloud's old friend Tifa became so strong and fast. Since you're a fighter yer going to need ta learn that trick ta fight against stronger enemies."

I did as I was told and extracted a tendril of energy from my "core". The power spread slowly throughout my entire body, copying the reaction that Zack had coaxed out earlier. It took me a lot longer than it did him – nearly ten minutes. I hoped that I could reduce that little problem with experience before I had to fight against stronger enemies. There were a lot of things that I needed experience with, I was finding.

"Now that ya learned how to boost yer attack and speed let's try to summon our elements. I'll try first ta see if it's possible to summon something outside our bodies since we now know that we can summon magic internally."

I nodded and waited as patiently as I could for him to search his core for the power he was talking about. That took another ten minutes and by that time I was nodding off where I sat. I was just about to fall asleep when a strong gust of wind suddenly sent my long hair flying into the air. I could hear loud gasps of surprise from the Sohma family beside me and grinned. They would have to believe us now.

Zack sighed tiredly and slumped forward, putting most of his weight on his thighs. He blinked at me sleepily and yawned. "That took a lot more energy from me than I thought."

"Is that bad?" I asked worriedly as I scooched forward and stared into his tired amethyst eyes.

He shook his head. "Nah. It feels like I've gotten...weaker from my unwanted nap of doom. I was expecting a bigger energy reserve so I put a bit too much of it into that little gust of wind. I was already tired so that just made it a bit worse. We'll try with you and then we can hit the hay."

"Was that seriously...magic," Yuki whispered, his light gray eyes wide with shock. His cousin, Kisa, clung to his side, staring at Zack and I with a delighted smile.

"Magic," she whispered. "Magic that's not bad. It was so pretty..."

I hadn't actually seen the wind magic materialize so I'd just take her word for it.

"Ready?" Zack asked me, ignoring the Sohma's for the most part. It was a little hard to keep up with all the family members and I knew each and every one of them individually so I couldn't really blame him. It was a little overwhelming for me too.

"Yes. Tell me what to do," I said determinedly and Akito quickly quieted her family back down. They just sat there and stared at us like Zack and I were animals at the zoo. It was a little disturbing so I took a page out of Zack's book and ignored them.

"Reach down into your core again. Instead of letting it flow gently into the rest of your body, create a light stream that flows through your arms to your hands while thinking of things that remind you of heat and warmth. When the energy reaches your hands I want you to direct the energy _out._ You might not be able to do it so don't push yourself too hard. If you get tired then quit for the night and we'll try it again in the morning. Also, you have to think of warm things in the beginning because of your lack of experience. As you grow, you'll be able to do it subconsciously."

I nodded absently, already focused on trying to summon a fireball or a spark or _something._ I managed to coax the energy to flow from my core to my arms when I hit a bit of a snag trying to separate the energy into each individual finger. I could only manage two before the energy stuttered and snapped back to my core like a rubber-band that had been pulled too tight. I found that a bit strange. Wasn't energy supposed to dissipate if you let it go like that? When I asked Zack he told me that rule only applied when the energy was being sent outside the body. Since I couldn't quite manage to force the energy out through my hand I didn't actually burn all that much off. Most of what I had used to attempt the conjuring of the fire went back to my core with little fuss.

I was going to attempt to summon my element one more time, but Zack let out a huge yawn that left tears trailing down his cheeks. I decided that we were done for the night after that.

"Alright pup," I teased as I got up and hauled Zack to his feet. I turned to an amazed looking Tohru and asked, "Where are we sleeping tonight? Zack's about ready to crash standing up." I felt him lean on me tiredly as if to enforce that statement.

"Uhhhhh...oh! I'm sorry! I completely forgot to show you!" Tohru exclaimed as she scrambled to her feet, her long brown hair fanning out behind her as she stumbled forward towards the stairs. Zack straightened back up and we followed her slowly. We had to wade through the huge group of amazed looking Sohma's to reach the stairs.

Of course, it was just my luck that right at that moment I tripped over my own two feet and landed right on top of a surprised Haru.

There was a great big poof and a thick cloud of smoke, and I was suddenly five feet in the air, lying on my stomach on the back of a bored looking cow. How Haru managed that expression in this type of situation I will never know.

"What in the..." Zack trailed off, looking unsure.

The Sohma family held their breath as if waiting for a physical blow, but all Zack did was grin and ask, "Do all of you do that poof thing when fallen on? That was so cool!"

"Not fallen on. When our bodies come in contact with someone of the opposite gender," Hatori said, his one visible gray eye not covered by his hair, wide with surprise.

"That. Is. So...COOL!" Zack exclaimed before his mouth contorted open in another eye-watering yawn. Finding something cool apparently didn't take away his exhaustion, but he clearly wanted to stay up and find out just why Haru had turned into a cow when I fell on him.

"...Okay, then," I finally said as I carefully slid off the surprisingly soft cow. Haru looked at me with calm, gentle eyes. I grinned and patted him on the back and gave him a scratch behind the ear. His tail gave a lazy wag before falling still. "I think it's time to go to bed. We can talk about your transformation and how to defeat the Heartless tomorrow, but for now I'm bushed."

Tohru, who had frozen at the foot of the stairs when I had tripped and subsequently made Haru transform, shook herself out of her shock and walked up the stairs to show us our rooms. Zack jogged after her, grin not fading in the least. I gave Haru one last pat and raced after my partner.

Tohru led us to a room that was a bit small, but had a huge bed set up on the floor. It looked like it had been taken from somebody else's room as it was still covered in pink sheets with pictures of moons and stars on it. I was a bit amused. It was really cutesy for an adult bed. I didn't mind, but it made me wonder what kind of person usually slept on it.

"This is your room Zack-kun," Tohru said cheerfully as she opened the door wider. Zack ducked so he wouldn't hit his head on the low doorway and collapsed on the bed without fanfare.

I followed him and yanked the covers out from beneath him, nearly falling on my ass for my troubles. He was heavier than he looked. After I had recovered my balance and Zack quit snickering I tucked him in like a small child. He gave me an amused smile and obediently shuffled to wherever I needed him to move so that I could remove the blanket from underneath his fat ass. In fact, when I told him this oh so interesting fact about himself his face turned red and he pouted after telling me he wasn't fat. He was squishy. I laughed so hard I ended up falling on my ass anyways.

After Zack was all settled in I kissed him on the cheek goodnight and turned off the light as I left. Tohru was giving us a gentle and soft expression.

"Are you two lovers?" she asked me quietly.

I nearly died from the sheer horror that thought invoked.

"No. _Hell no._ Zack is practically my brother. Besides, he has a girl he really likes that's waiting for him. Zack is...my one and only partner. The one that holds my sanity in his hands. He's the one that could make or break me." My eyes narrowed, and I slowed in my walking as Tohru stopped outside another room about two hallways away from Zack.

She gave me an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, but this room is very small and the bed isn't very big. Will you be alright?"

I gave the cheerful and optimistic girl a wide grin. "Of course! My room back where I'm from is practically a closet. This is amazingly big to me."

"Okay. I'll take my leave here." She bowed and pointed at a doorway with flowers painted all over it. "That's my bedroom there. If you need something in the middle of the night don't hesitate to get me. You're our guests after all."

"Okay. Good night, Tohru."

"Good night, Kai-chan."

Tohru shuffled off to do whatever Tohru did – I searched around for a clock – at two o'clock in the morning. As for me, I was ready to hit the hay. Beyond ready really, but when I laid down and pulled the covers over my body my mind continued to race, not allowing me the peaceful oblivion that I knew awaited me.

Today, or yesterday rather, had been a long one full of traumatizing events that I never wanted to think about again. I had a feeling that after this night that they would haunt me despite my best wishes. I didn't think that nightmares would haunt me this night simply because I was so exhausted. The nights following this one...that was an entirely different story.

I was still wondering why the Voice had chosen _me_ of all people to do whatever this mission was all about. Seriously. Did I need to reiterate? There was nothing special about me. I was a normal girl with what you could call a normal life living in a town that most other states feared and...wait. Seriously? Did living in Flint really make me special? I mean it was bad, but Detroit was way worse!

Somehow I don't think my choice of which city I lived in made me special enough to warrant all this. Kitty knew more about Kingdom Hearts than I did. I just got the gist of everything. I never even completed all the games. So what, _what_ mission was I supposed to accomplish? The Voice made it seem that I was its last line of defense or something, but that didn't make any sense because it still had all those warriors on other worlds to help it out if things really started getting out of hand. Did the Voice not trust these warriors? I knew that Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka were de-aged, but they'd still be able to help, especially if Squall, er, _Leon_ talked to Selphie. Maybe jog some memories. Plus, there were all those other worlds out there. I mean, I was in the Fruits Basket universe. There were sure to be more anime centered universes out there. And trust me when I say that there were some powerful ones out there. I mean, think of Goku!

What was the Voice anyways? I mean, was it human? A God? A demigod? A vampire? A witch? Something even more powerful than all those other things combined? Was it something that couldn't be defined by a human's limited words and sights? Was it standing right in front of me in its true form on the Dive to the Heart and my mind just couldn't comprehend it, so I heard it as "the Voice"?

And where were Zack and I going to go after this? I didn't even know how we got here aside from the shattering Dive to the Heart platform. Poor Sora. That was really scary and gut wrenching. It was enough to make one almost lose their minds.

Random thought. Cloud existed in this universe. Oh shit. That meant Sephiroth existed here. Oh _fuck._ I was dead. I was totally and completely dead. In the future, I hope to whatever higher power is in this universe that I wouldn't ever be within fifty feet of the psychopath. Kitty had loved him, but he was _completely insane!_ I wanted him nowhere near me!

One could argue that I was a psychopathic bitch as well, but that was besides the point.

I rolled over and looked at the clock. It was exactly five o'clock in the morning. I groaned. My thoughts had been running in circles, making more questions than answers for hours now. At this rate I was never going to get to sleep.

Rolling out of bed with a pillow tucked under my arm and a blanket draped over my shoulders I wandered into the hall, seeking out Zack's room in the dark. I'm sure he wouldn't mind me lying on the floor next to his bed. I didn't snore like Salem used to so –

I cut that thought off before it could fully form. I paused in the hall, closed my eyes, and did my best to suppress the memories as far as they would go. I didn't want to remember and I was doing no one any favors by being so weak. There was always time later because after I get Zack home and finish this mission, whatever it may be, I was probably going to...

I arrived at Zack's door and gave a quiet knock. There was no answer. I opened the door and peeked in.

From what I could see, Zack was on his back with one arm thrown over his flat stomach and his other arm thrown over the pillow above his head. Soft snores poured forth from his slightly parted lips. He looked really peaceful, especially with his expression so lax and baby-like.

I didn't want to disturb him so I tiptoed quietly over to the side of his bed and laid my stuff down on the floor. The carpet was soft and the room was warm. I felt more at peace here than I did in my room and I soon found myself dozing off.

In my dream, I could feel hands picking me up gently from the floor. It was warm and safe. That was all my thoughts registered before I slipped into a peaceful, deep sleep.

It was the most peaceful sleep I'd have in a long, long time.

* * *

I woke up the next morning to yelling and crashing. I heard things along the lines of "Damn rat!" and "Stupid cat!" My eyes felt heavy and crusted with sleep. There was an oddly rhythmic motion beneath my ear and I could hear a heartbeat. I guess my dream last night wasn't a dream.

I looked up into Zack's sleepy gaze and smiled. "Mornin' Zack."

He gave me a sleep mussed smile. It was oddly endearing. "Mornin' Kai."

I laughed. "You're a pretty light sleeper. I was sure that I was almost completely silent when I came in here last night."

"You were," Zack said just as he yawned, lifting me high in the air from where I was positioned on top of his chest. "I had to sleep very lightly when I was a SOLDIER of Shinra."

I nodded gravely. Shinra Electric Company was bad news, but nobody knew that when they joined up. They just wanted to be heroes like Genesis, Sephiroth, and Angeal who were always being promoted by the evil, greedy company. When Zack found out he tried to abandon Shinra, but like most people who chose to try and abandon the devil's work, he came a knocking soon after.

Zack and Cloud lost four years of their lives to a tiny capsule filled with Mako, the solidified life-blood of their planet. Cloud was twenty-one and Zack was twenty-three when they finally managed to escape, but when they went into that green filled hell they were only seventeen and nineteen, respectively. I couldn't even imagine something like that happening to me. It was like the end of time itself, not knowing who you were or what age you were. It was a good thing that Zack had a good grasp of his own identity otherwise who knew how long he and Cloud would've been stuck in those tiny tanks, waiting for their day to die.

"Why did you become a SOLDIER anyways?" I asked, eager to hear the answer that I already knew. It was such a large part of Zack's personality I felt that he should tell me himself, despite my knowledge.

"I wanted to be a hero," Zack said, his voice dropping and his eyes filling with an emotion so uncharacteristic of Zack that it shocked me. Was that _shame_ that I was seeing in those eyes?

Why did Zack look ashamed? He had nothing, absolutely _nothing_ to be ashamed of. I hadn't finished the Crisis Core game, but I had looked ahead, on the internet, for the cinemas. He died protecting Cloud, his best friend. So, for what reason did he feel ashamed?

I blinked as the answer popped into my head. It was so obvious that I could've slapped myself for not thinking of it sooner.

"Zack," I said as I propped myself up on his chest. I gazed down at him with serious eyes. "Are you ashamed because you died protecting Cloud? Why? Wasn't that a good thing? I mean, not dying obviously, but protecting him until your dying breath? I'm sure that he appreciated it and loved you all the more for it."

"But that's the problem," Zack replied dully, sitting up in the bed. I slid into his lap, but our gazes never broke. "I _died._ What kinda' hero leaves the person he's trying to protect all alone with enemies approaching on all sides and still having memory problems to boot." His voice dropped and even his hair seemed to droop as he whispered, "Sometimes I think back on that day we escaped and wonder if I should have left him there. If it wouldn't have been kinder for me to end his life and his suffering before it became worse because it _did_. So much worse..."

I sat back a bit, stared hard into his eyes –

– and then slapped the hell out of him.

Zack blinked at me, a little dumbfounded as he held his red cheek gingerly. He _looked_ dumbfounded anyways. I didn't care because now I was _pissed._

"Zackary Fair," I hissed, "I can't believe what I'm hearing. Abandon Cloud. The little guy that admired you so much that he followed you straight into hell on Earth and doesn't regret it to this day? Do I need to slap you again? What the hell is _wrong_ with you? You were a hero! If you weren't you wouldn't have been missed so much by Cloud and Aeris and even Yuffie! Hell, the _Turks_ missed you and that's saying something because half the time I think they have the emotional constitution of a constipated brick!"

That was when I realized everything I had just spouted out in my emotion filled rant of justice.

I thought Zack would call me on it. If I was him I _would've_ called me on it, but he surprised me. Instead of slapping me like I deserved or shaking me until I told him all my dirty little secrets he drew me into a tight hug and asked in a whisper so low that I had to lean in close to hear him, "You know about Cloud? And the girls? Tell me. Please?"

Feeling guilt claw at the edges of my soul with sharpened black claws I paused, unsure of what to do. It was obvious that Zack now knew I had a lot more information about his life stored in my head than I should. Would it hurt or help at this point? I didn't know what to do.

"You don't have to tell me how you know that information. That's not important. Just...please, tell me how they are. Are they eating alright? Are they safe? Are they happy? Please tell me," Zack pleaded with wide eyes filled with tears.

The logic filled part of my brain died and retreated with little fuss. So I opened my mouth and told him all the little scraps of information that I knew about his friends.

I told him how Cloud, Aeris, and Yuffie were now living on another world called Hollow Bastion with Merlin the Wizard, Fairy Godmother, Cid Highwind, and a man who called himself Leon, even though his real name was Squall Leonhart. I told him how Cloud had hunted down the reincarnated form of his rival, Sephiroth, through hell and back, sometimes wavering and ready to fall into despair, but always pulled back from that dangerous edge by his friends. I talked until I had no more to say and stared at the ground in my own despair. He would abandon me. I knew it. There was nobody on this Earth that wouldn't. I had kept information from him. Important things. The shame was so great I wanted to rip out my soul and present it to him to do as he pleased.

A large hand stuck itself under my chin and lifted it up until I was staring into Zack's tear filled eyes.

"Thank you Kai," he said. "I don't know why you kept that from me, but I'm sure you had a good reason."

I bit my lip. "There is, but I can only tell you a little." I sighed. "I was the one who brought you back. The Voice told me that I needed a partner and so I chose you because I know all about you and I loved who you were. You're such a good person that I thought that if I stuck with you I wouldn't be afraid. I knew a lot of things about you. Mostly from your stint with Shinra and bits and pieces of things after, but it doesn't matter. I shouldn't have disturbed your final slumber. Who am I to wake you up and force you to fight with me for a mission that I know nothing about?"

"Oh, darlin'," he said sadly as he wrapped me up in his arms, stroking my bedhead with his free hand. "You're so young. You shouldn't have to deal with all of this."

My voice came out muffled as my face was still pressed into his chest. "The Voice told me I was its last resort and final Warrior. I'm the only one who can apparently."

I pulled away and told him, "I'm so sorry Zack. You don't have to follow me and I won't follow you. You can forget that you ever met me if you want."

I slid out of the bed, my soul despairing. I had lost my only friend in this strange and terrifying universe. I was an idiot and I had only myself to blame.

"No," I suddenly heard from behind me.

I stopped and looked back to see Zack standing up from the bed, his eyes blazing with indignation. He stopped in front of me and smashed the top of my head with his fist.

I stared up at him with wide, tear filled eyes as I grasped the top of my aching head. Zack was fuming mad.

"Who are you," he snarled, "to tell me who I can and cannot follow? I'm twenty-three years old and you look no older than fifteen or sixteen. It would be irresponsible of me to leave you all alone when I know you're going to be heading into danger. And I don't mind that you didn't tell me right away. As much as you say you trust me, I was still a virtual stranger until yesterday." He leaned down until our faces were level and grabbed one of my hands from my aching head and pressed it to his chest, right where his heart was.

"You are my responsibility and my friend. I've felt like I've known you all my life and I have no problems laying down my life for you. From what I've gathered and what you've said, _you_ are the one responsible for bringing me back to life. There is no way to repay a debt that large except to pledge my loyalty to you."

That's when he smiled such a large and _Zack_ smile that I found myself smiling back.

"There you go," he murmured as he tucked the hair in my eyes behind my ears. "That's a nice smile you have going on there. You should do it more often."

My soul filled with a sisterly love for this man so vast and deep that I could no longer pinpoint exactly where it began or where it ended. It was the love that I had felt previously for my best friends back in my own world. How could I have known this wonderful and loving man for only one day? It seemed like a lifetime. And I'm not talking about the video games I'd played. I'm talking about a real, tried and true connection.

"That was way too much drama for one morning," I informed my partner in as stingy a tone as I could muster, my nose tilted towards the air.

He ruffled my hair and huffed. "Don't you start that nonsense now lil' pyro. Let's go get something ta eat and see if our clothes are done being washed. I seem to remember promisin' ta teach ya' how to summon fire today."

I followed him out the door, smiling brightly behind his back. "And maybe teach me how to fight without splattering blood all over me?"

Zack snorted as we came to the stairs leading down towards the living room. "Good luck with that brat. It's just one of the many annoyances you'll have to put up with being a close range fighter."

I pouted. Damn video game inconsistencies. Geek knowledge had failed me once again!

We finished walking down the stairs and were greeted by a lax Haru who was running a comb through his dual black and silver hair. At least Zack now knew why it was black and silver.

Tohru greeted us from the kitchen and, after wading through multiple clusters of bodies and past plates and cups filled with food, she handed us a plate and glass of our own. We were shooed back to the living room where Zack and I were separated. He sat in a group that consisted of Hatori, Ayame, Shigure, and Kureno. I sat in a group that consisted of Kyo, Yuki, Haru, and Momiji. They were pretty nice and friendly, except Kyo who was grumpy, but I didn't take offense to that. He was always grumpy.

"Hey," I said, interrupting the conversation between cousins. When they all turned to look at me I grinned and asked, "Can I touch all of your hair?"

Haru blinked, surprised, before he shrugged. "Sure. I don't mind."

Yuki's response was a small, polite smile and a nod.

"Of course you can touch my hair, but why would you want to? It's pretty normal compared to Haru's and Kyo's," Momiji blabbered as he moved nearer to me so that I could touch his hair. It was amazingly soft and pretty, with tiny curls hidden beneath the straight hair.

I shrugged. "I like messing with hair. I've just never seen hair as pretty as you guys. Zack's is epic, not pretty."

I moved on from Momiji to Haru who let me play around in his hair for a good five minutes with good humor. It was a bit more coarse than I thought it was going to be, but it was still pretty cool to touch. When I moved from him to Yuki, he let me twist my fingers in it and tuck it behind his ears. If I thought Momiji's was soft then it had nothing on Yuki's. It felt like I was touching liquid sky!

Kyo hadn't said anything when I had asked to touch his hair, but when I leaned over to touch it he didn't say a word of complaint. His hair was my favorite to play with by far just because of the vibrant strands and I couldn't help myself. I ended up grabbing a cloth that had been laying on the table and twisted his hair up, using it as a makeshift bandana. It made him look a bit like a pirate and the image had his cousins and I cracking up. When he looked in the mirror that Kagura had handed over when asked, he looked like he actually liked it.

He took it off anyways, though.

Once everyone was finished with their food Tohru collected all the plates and went to do the dishes with Rin, Hiro, and Kisa's help while Haru, Kyo, and Kagura led Zack and I back upstairs to lend us some clothes since ours weren't quite clean yet. I had a feeling that my clothes were the problem. Zack had enough experience on his side and knowledge to avoid the blood spray that erupted from the Heartless once wounded. I was the one that came back looking like I'd murdered an entire family and then bathed in the resulting blood like a shower after a hard day's work.

We went through what seemed like every single shirt in the house. According to Kagura none of them looked right with my skin tone or matched up with my personality. I would've worn a dreaded _dress_ if only she would hurry up and let me go!

Eventually we decided on a pair of Kyo's cargo pants and a red muscle shirt of Haru's. I borrowed a pair of panties and a sports bra from Akito just so I could say that it was true – we were the same size.

I got smacked for provoking the little psychopath and dragged outside by Zack for another lesson in summoning magic.

It was warm out in the courtyard and we settled ourselves onto two large rocks in a garden full to bursting with flowers and vegetables of all kinds. I ended up snagging an apple from the only fruit tree planted in the little vegetable patch after we'd practiced for a few hours. In that time, I'd managed to send the tendril of energy to each individual finger while positioning most of my power in my palm. I felt like I was ready. My thoughts were concentrated and my technique was on par with what I needed.

I ended up putting too much energy into the attempt and made a fireball the size of my head that quickly went out of control.

Zack tackled me to the ground and the fireball went sailing up into the air and detonated about a mile up. That must've been _some_ kind of signal because, after that, we were swarmed by a veritable army of Heartless.

"Heartless!" I screamed to give the Sohma's inside the house a bit of warning (as if the gigantic explosion in the sky wasn't clue enough) as I yanked my gloves from my pockets and slammed them onto my hands, my soul burning with determination. I would protect the Sohma's with my life. I wouldn't let one Heartless get past me. Especially since I knew that they were here because of my stupid mistake.

The Heartless that showed up were just regular Shadows and Mega-Shadows. Nothing that I haven't seen or faced before. Now that I knew what to expect they weren't all that scary, but I didn't let my guard down. They could be evil, fast, and slippery little buggers when they put their minds to it. I didn't want to get gouged from behind or some such nonsense for being an idiot. Especially since Zack had gone off to guard the more vulnerable Sohma's.

I could only see Ayame, Shigure, and Hatori from where I was at. Shigure was holding a giant shotgun while Ayame had his rifle from earlier. Hatori had no weapon on him from what I could see, but he was holding a doctor's bag, the kind that they usually carried with them when they were making a visit to someone's home.

As a Mega-Shadow lunged at me I lashed out with a fist and smacked it away from me. It flew towards Zack who looked like he was about to destroy it when he had to dive to the ground to avoid a stray bullet released by Ayame. Ayame blinked at the fact that he had actually managed to hit it before beaming and exclaiming, "I hit it again! Woo-hoo!"

"I'm glad you're happy and all, but would you _watch where you're aiming that thing please?!"_ Zack exclaimed from the ground, his arms thrown over his head of spikes and his ass up in the air as he assumed the duck and cover position.

Ayame gave a sheepish wave. "Sorry!"

Zack got shakily back to his feet, but I noticed during the course of the battle that his eyes always strayed suspiciously back to the gray haired man as if he was going to be shot in the back at any second. It would've made me laugh if I wasn't so focused on protecting my own ass.

My foot caught the chin of one of the Heartless and sent it flying into the air. As it came back down I delivered a powerful punch directly to its face and quickly moved onto the next one before that one had hit the ground.

I suddenly felt sharp claws dig into my back and I bellowed in pain, throwing the Shadow that had landed on my back off by reaching back, grabbing what amounted to its leg, and throwing it at Zack who dispatched it with a quick stomp. Zack had concern in his eyes as he stared at the bit of my back he could see. I smiled at him reassuringly before running off to help Yuki and Kyo who were pinned down by a barrage of lightning blasts being released by a group of Yellow Opera's.

I found it ironic that I had just thought about getting my back gouged open and, lo and behold, five minutes later, I had what felt like three deep gouges in my back.

I felt the warmth of my blood slowly dripping down my back as I ran over to help the duo of odd hair colors. They shot me concerned, but grateful looks as I unleashed a barrage of kicks at a Gigas Shadow and they went to work on the group of Yellow Opera's. It died after about ten kicks, but I wasn't paying much attention because, as I was kicking the Gigas Shadow back to Kingdom Hearts itself a Yellow Opera had popped up behind me and shocked me with what felt like a mild electrical shock, all things considered. It still made my long hair rise up towards the sky in a pretty good impression of Bakura from Yu-Gi-Oh.

"That freakin' hurt," I growled.

I could feel my strength slowly draining over time and each hit I unleashed felt weaker than the last. I was tiring. I knew the signs. If this attack didn't end soon I was going to end up totally useless.

At least I wasn't the only one. Yuki, Shigure, and Hatori all looked to be tiring as well, but they carried on with a dogged determination usually found only in experienced soldiers. It was admirable.

Eventually the Heartless stopped re-spawning and we all retreated back into the compound, exhausted. We all had wounds of varying severity, but the one on my back was the worst. In fact, when Hatori had been wrapping it up and disinfecting it, he told me it would scar rather badly. It seemed that wounds created by the Heartless never healed well and they didn't currently have the technology nor the means to find a way to make Heartless inflicted wounds heal better.

I thought that was kind of cool, but Zack looked devastated, like he'd failed me in the worst way.

It took a lot of cajoling and "tough love" to make him understand that me getting a scar, or even a couple of them, wasn't a big deal. Besides, I had a feeling that I was going to be getting a lot of them.

It didn't seem to matter because, when we went to bed that night, he ended up coming to _my_ room and cuddling with me.

I never thought that Zack could be so insecure. It just never occurred to me that he could have such...human fears. He was always so cheerful and full of loving devotion that it was almost like I was looking at a completely different person.

"How can you be so trusting with me? You hardly know me," I mused as I carded a hand through his dark locks. They were surprisingly bouncy and spry for hair.

Zack was silent. I let the question drop and continued playing with his hair, smoothing a hand down his back once in a while. It was when I was almost asleep that I head him whisper, "I've known I could trust you from the moment I woke up next to you. Don't ask me how. I just...know."

I fell asleep with a smile on my face and I dreamed good dreams.

The next morning, Zack and I packed up the few belongings between us in a bag that we'd found in one of the extra rooms not belonging to any particular person in the compound, and dressed up in the clothes we'd arrived in. Zack made me laugh when he swung the bag onto his broad shoulders because it was one of the cutesiest backpacks that I'd ever seen with sparkly rainbows, clouds, smiling suns and moons and stars. We then set out to inform our gracious hosts that we were leaving.

Some of them didn't take it so well.

"You're leaving?" Tohru asked with large, chocolate brown eyes.

I winced and Zack shifted guiltily from foot to foot.

"We've already stayed here too long," I said, "We're looking for Zack's friends and we don't know how long they'll be in the place we know of." I bowed low at the waist and yelled, "Thank you so much for your hospitality! We'll never forget you!"

Zack copied my bow. "Right. Thanks so much for everything guys! We would've never survived if you hadn't taken us in."

Tohru's face turned red and she returned the bow, bending even lower. "It was nothing! Please, think nothing of it!"

I got down on the floor and placed my head on the wood below, Zack copying my actions. From what little I could see from my position on the floor, Tohru's face had went from a cute bubblegum pink to a bright ketchup red.

"We can never repay the huge favor that you have bestowed upon us. Please, think of us kindly when we're no longer here," I pleaded and got up, hauling Zack up with me.

Tohru looked at us with soft eyes and stepped forward to embrace me. I returned the embrace strongly.

We received many goodbyes in different ways. I always managed to either get or ninja a hug out of everyone, even Akito and Kyo. Maybe the emblem of the ninja gear on the Dive to the Heart was more apt than I thought.

When Zack and I were about to walk out the door we were stopped by Tohru who handed us a _huge_ bento – a Japanese lunch box – neatly wrapped up and stored in what looked like a picnic cloth.

"Be safe and be careful," she pleaded.

We could do nothing more than agree and continue on our way, searching for a way to travel to new worlds.

* * *

"You know, when we left the Sohma's to try and find a way to Hello Bastard –"

"Hollow Bastion," Zack corrected absently around a mouthful of peanut butter that he was eating straight from the jar.

"Whatever!" I yelled, glaring at the jar of peanut butter with disgust. If that wasn't one of the nastiest things I'd seen in a while I'd eat my own gloves. "The point is, how are we going to find a Gummi Ship to take us? 'Cuz, right now, the only thing we're doing is walking Southwest from Tokyo to Kawasaki!"

"We passed Kawasaki a while ago," Zack said absently, totally enraptured by his peanut buttery goodness. "We're headed towards Yokohama now."

I groaned tiredly and pressed a hand to my aching head, wishing I'd had the foresight to stock up on some pain meds. My head was killing me.

I saw something sparkle in the sun in the distance and slightly off from the path we were traveling. I perked up, bored with just walking. Zack had more patience for the mundane because he'd been dead for so long and because he'd been trained as a SOLDIER. I was in the body of a fifteen year old girl with a short attention span. It was unfortunate that it was one of the traits that this body had chosen to retain, but there was nothing I could do about it.

"Hey, Zack," I said.

"Yeah, Kai?" Zack asked, still completely enraptured by his peanut buttery goodness.

"I see something over there. I'm gonna' go check it out, okay?"

"Sure, sure. Just be careful," Zack replied.

I ran off towards the spot I could see the shiny object. It was wedged in a clearing that was filled with overgrown grass and gnarled trees that had probably seen better days as they were burnt and more than a few of them were ripped up by their roots.

I didn't really notice all of this though. I was too intent on finding out what the shiny was.

The "shiny" turned out to be a small, mostly white robot with blue shades wrapping around its torso, the bottoms of its "hands", and the middle part of its triangular feet. It had on a blue tinted visor, had only three discernible fingers, and the cutest little pot belly that I ever did see! It even had the bio-hazard symbol on its belly to boot!

I knew who it was immediately. I'd been obsessing over it for years, but my obsession had decided to come back with a vengeance when Cartoon Network decided to bring it back on its Adult Swim block.

This little unassuming robot was called TOM. On my world, he hosted the Toonami block, broadcasted from his ship the Absolution and accompanied by his A.I. assistant, Sara. It was a block that hosted a plethora of television programs, including things like The Powerpuff Girls, Dragonball Z, Zoids, Gundam Wing A/C, and more. But, what was he doing here? This was definitely not the place for him to even remotely be close to. He was supposed to be out in space broadcasting cartoons for people the universe over.

I walked over and picked him up from the ground. He was cold to the touch. Funny. I always figured that if I did get to meet TOM that he'd be warm like the Medabots or Transformers. I guess not.

I wiped as much dirt off of the little guy as I could. He fit into my arms surprisingly neatly.

I didn't know if I should attempt to wake him up or ask if he needed assistance. I'm not even sure if this _was_ the real TOM or just a really authentic toy. And if he did answer me, what then? I would have to explain how I knew about TOM and then I'd just be digging myself into a deeper hole then I was already in.

In the end, I decided to just take TOM with me and let things unfold as they would. If this was the real TOM then I would have nothing to worry about with him finding out anything and if this was a toy...epic man.

"Hey, Zack!" I yelled as I pressed TOM close to my chest. I took a step back towards my partner when everything suddenly shifted.

The world turned upside down and then right side up. Colors shifted to wonky to rainbow and then back to normal. Wind whipped through the clearing, strong enough and loud enough that I couldn't even hear myself think. I saw Zack running up to me with wide eyes as I floated into the air, my arms clenched tightly around TOM and my hair whipping every which a way.

I was afraid. What was happening? Was...was I going to die now? I went through all of this _shit_ just to die when I was slowly starting to accept the survivors guilt that came with the event of surviving the destruction of my world?

My eyes narrowed and I got flaming _pissed._

"Fuck this!" I yelled and lunged, somehow, someway, towards my surprised partner, grabbing his outstretched hand, my other one still wrapped tightly around TOM's small body. I glared into Zack's eyes and yelled at whoever or _whatever_ may have been listening, "I'm done with this bullshit! If you want to kill me then come do it yourself because I'm _sick_ and _tired_ of being some stupid damsel in distress! If you want to kill me then come do it yourself you _coward!"_

I didn't know if I could be heard over the wind. At that point, I didn't care. I just wanted to let the universe know who and what I used to be and what I was now. I was no longer a pathetic victim of circumstance. If I was going to continue chasing the path that had been laid out before me then I was going to do it on _my_ terms and no one else's...except, maybe Zack's.

"Kai! Look behind you!" I heard Zack scream.

I did as I was told. My eyes widened impossibly wide and I screamed in terror as a black, yawning chasm of pure darkness opened up like the maw of a great and evil creature.

It opened wide –

– and swallowed us whole.

I was twisted and pulled in every direction until I thought I was going to puke. Places and colors and events and times and people passed us by, too fast to see clearly. Through it all, my grip remained firm around my partner and TOM. I refused to be alone anymore. I refused to let them become victims simply by knowing me. We were going to survive whatever this was and, when we found out who or what had the balls to actually attack us so stupidly, I was going to kill whatever it may be.

I think Zack might have read my mind because his hand squeezed mine almost impossibly tight. I chanced a glimpse at where I thought his face should be and he stared back at me with unwavering, _angry_ determination.

That was when we landed with an almighty crash on a cement road.

I hacked and coughed and then puked on the ground in front of me after scrambling a short distance away from Zack. With TOM still clutched tightly to my chest I gagged and choked on my vomit, spitting it onto the ground.

"What the hell is this? You were supposed to summon something that could help us defeat these brats!" a female voice yelled, upset.

"Don't you blame me Alue! You helped with the spell too!" another female voice protested.

"Shut up witches and tell us what you did to those poor souls on the ground!" yet _another_ female voice yelled, this one sounding much younger and _very_ angry.

I glanced up with blurry eyes and instantaneously found myself regretting it.

Maka stared at me with sympathy in her pretty green eyes, her sandy blond pigtails nearly falling out of their ties. Her plaid black and red skirt was torn on her thigh and the black trench coat over her white t-shirt was bloody, covered with dust, and small pieces of debris. In her hands was a large scythe that looked like it had an eye near the top and was staring at me.

Fuck whatever I had complained about before. And fuck you too Voice while I'm at it. Giving me TOM (...I think) did _not_ excuse the fact that you put me in a world that promotes and escalates already existing madness.

Hello, Soul Eater world and hello Witches and Demon Weapons and Meisters and Madness Wavelengths abound.

Like I needed to increase my psychotic tendencies on top of everything else.


	3. Chapter 3

You know, Kai is touchy-feely and Zack is touchy-feely. Put 'em together and you got them touching each other nearly _all. The. TIME._

I didn't think I'd be writing about this much touching unless it involved a porno, which this is not.

Thanks, Falcner, for reviewing. It is greatly appreciated.

* * *

Tumble

Chapter 3

* * *

You know, I've owned a lot of pets in the fifteen years I've been alive. I've owned dogs, cats, a few mice that were found in my family's garage, fish, a turtle, and even three little bunnies at one point.

Out of all of them, I never got to choose one for my own.

They were always picked for me. Sure, I got to choose the names, but it wasn't the same as going out and looking for the one that you _knew_ would be perfect for you.

Choosing Zack as my partner whom I regularly compare to a playful, excitable puppy strongly reminds me of my childlike dream of picking out a puppy for my own. One that I knew was right for me and would be my best friend no matter what.

I guess I got my puppy after all.

* * *

I stood up from the ground, wiping the dust from my pants with my free hand. My eyes stayed focused on the two witches as they stared at Zack and I with blatant curiosity. I wanted to take no chances with these two. My newly awakened senses were screaming at me that they were dangerous. Also, I may not have known who these particular two witches were and, in the long run, it didn't matter. They were witches and from the defensive way Maka was standing I'd assume they were bad ones which explained my body's reaction to their presence.

The witch that had been called Alue by her associate was tall and thin with wide eyes that reminded me of red wine. Her hair was a light purple that was cut severely short in the back with long bangs that reminded me of the wings of a bird, spread out in flight. She was wearing a dress that stopped at mid-thigh with two pieces of cloth that flared at her hips. There were long, braided strings with beads and what looked like feathers woven into the cloth. Her sleeves looked almost Japanese in style, wide and long from what I could tell. Her feet were bare and her toenails were painted to resemble her eyes. They also seemed lethally sharp. She had a cunning and keen mind hidden behind those red eyes, I noticed.

The witch beside Alue was staring at us with pretty, denim blue eyes that seemed to nearly glow. Her face was long, with pouty pink lips and hair that was colored a golden brown, the top part mostly hidden beneath an old messenger boy hat. It fell to her shoulders in loose curls and then disappeared behind her back. She was wearing what looked like a jogging outfit. It consisted of a pink, sleeveless sweatshirt with a drawstring hood and a pair of sweatpants that puffed out at the ankles and were just as pink as the sweatshirt. On her feet were a simple pair of flip-flops that were decorated with cute little hearts and stars.

I'd never seen either of these witches before. Not from the show, from the manga nor art books, not even from Soul Eater Not. Who were they and what were they doing in – I looked around – Death City? That was like asking for a death sentence unless I entered the Soul Eater world near the latest chapter of the manga. The one where Kid had managed to convince the witches to help out in the battle against Asura, but what were the odds of that? Not very likely with my luck.

"We haven't done anything to them," the woman with the golden brown hair chirped, bending forward at the waist, her arms hidden behind her back. She had a wide smile on her face that was really somewhat creepy. Why did that grin look so familiar? And why did the word "giraffes" come to mind? It made me wonder what a professional would have to say about my mind, especially when I was thinking about these things in the middle of a potential war zone. That look of sheer anger on Maka's face made me think that battle was only inevitable. Which might not be a bad thing. I still had a promise to fulfill after all.

"You must'ah done somethin' 'cuz I feel like shit," Zack grumbled as he staggered to his feet, his face a little green. He wrapped his arms around his stomach, his face pinched with pain. The dangerous gleam in his eyes never faded and his gaze never wavered from the two women. I could already see the SOLDIER part of Zack labeling these two as enemies.

My eyes widened with concern and I stumbled over to my partner, wrapping an arm around his waist to support him in case he might fall. He didn't look very steady on his feet. He leaned into me and patted me on the back, his lips moving so fractionally that I could barely hear what he said.

"I'm okay," he muttered. "Pay attention to the one called Alue. I'll keep a watch on the other 'witch' and scythe-girl."

I did as I was told, my arm squeezing his waist a fraction tighter in acknowledgment.

Alue snorted, folding her arms beneath her large bust, her entire countenance filled with the sort of arrogance that made me want to punch her a time or three. "Don't blame your shortcomings on _us. _It's your own fault that you got pulled into the portal. If you weren't at least a bit stronger than the average _human_ the portal wouldn't have been attracted to you."

"Enough talking!" Maka suddenly shouted, fed up with all the distractions. She had come to take out the witches who had been stupid enough to invade Death City and she would do as she had come to do, with or without backup!

"Let's do it Maka!" a male voice suddenly came from the scythe, luckily unheard by everybody in the heat of the moment, as Maka jumped high into the air, her brows furrowed and her sandy blond pigtails streaming out behind her.

Alue and the other witch both smirked dangerously, their eyes hidden in shadow, before darting off in opposite directions, almost too fast to see.

The unnamed witch appeared in the air in front of Maka, her knees tucked neatly beneath her and her arms angled downwards, her hands balled up into fists as she leaned forward. She grinned at the younger girl, her eyes opened so wide that they resembled full moons and head tilted to the side. "Hello Maka-chan. Time for you to go bye-bye now."

Her eyes closed until they resembled tiny, dangerous slits. She thrust one of her hands out in front of her, palm facing outwards.

"Kange. Roo. Kangla. Kangaroo. Bang Stomp!" she chanted, her voice screaming by the time she got to the end of the spell.

Pink energy in the form of a large kangaroo foot suddenly shot out of her hand. However, I didn't see what happened next. It seemed like Alue decided to remain quiet no longer as she appeared in front of us, the braids of beads and feathers swinging almost seductively on her hips.

I chanced a quick look at Zack to see if he was affected by the strange seductive pull I felt, but was relieved by the same serious, if slightly ill, expression he'd put on since we'd been pulled through that portal by these two jokes for women.

"I don't know who you are or why _you_ of all people came out of the portal Kanga and I conjured, but I _do_ know that you're not on our side." Alue's eyes narrowed and she lifted a hand, palm facing us. I knew what was coming next.

"Shit sucker!" I growled and pushed Zack out of the way just as Alue finished yelling her chant of, "Owul. Alue. Owls. Hyper Talons!"

When I had pushed Zack out of the way the purple haired witch had jumped into the air and, right before my astonished eyes, her toenails glowed red and elongated into sharp talons...apt. They raked across my upraised arm that I had put up in my defense, getting caught in the skin. I cried out and was wrenched into the sky as the woman's bangs glowed red and elongated into _real_ wings. It felt like the talons were caught in the bone.

"Kai!" Zack yelled, eyes wide and hands clenched tightly into fists as he started following Alue and I from below grimly.

"Go on!" I yelled, voice tight with pain. "I'll be okay!"

Which was _so_ a lie, but what the hell could he do? I was stuck in the air with a talon embedded in the meat and bone of my arm and only going higher thanks to this purple haired bimbo. Not to mention I had TOM still tucked into the crook of my one free arm. Maybe...

Using my own perforated arm for leverage I pulled myself up, grabbed onto the witch's leg with my own legs by awkwardly flipping around, and, as painful as it was, yanked my arm free from the talons.

I nearly choked on my own tongue at the horrible pain my arm decided to bombard me with. It was unlike anything I had ever felt before, even when Alue had decided to pull me into the air by the injured appendage or when I got my back sliced open by Heartless. I guess, since it was stuck in the bone, I didn't feel the pressure nearly as much until I decided to yank the talons out. Or, knowing me, by ripping the talons out of my arm I had caused more damage to my arm than what it had already been dealt.

Alue threw me from my awkward perch with a wrath filled scream and I tumbled through the sky, end over end, wondering if I had enough momentum to flip myself around so that I'd land on my feet instead of my head. Humpty-Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty-Dumpty had a great fall...

"Kai!"

I was caught in large, muscled arms and brought to a warm chest. I cuddled into my partner's hold, inhaling his scent of laundry detergent and chocolate. I swear this man's mere presence was all I needed in times of distress or fear and I'd calm right down. It didn't help that he had a very distinctive scent. Maybe I was the one becoming the dog, what with sniffing him all the time. It wouldn't surprise me.

"Damn you!" Alue snarled and the next thing I knew we were tumbling across the ground, Zack and I in opposite directions.

Alue hesitated for a brief second before going after Zack who had come to a stop at the edge of a tall building, already regaining his footing and a murderous glare settling on his face as he stared up at the witch. He was the bigger threat between the two of us.

I had come to a stop at the base of a tree at the edge of a basketball court. I had to use the tree to hoist myself up into a standing position. I guess I was a little weak from the blood loss. I wobbled slightly as I straightened and glanced down at my injured arm, wincing at its mangled state. It gave a throb as if in response and I hissed.

"Don't touch my partner! Don't you ever touch her!" I heard Zack yell as I carefully prodded my arm around the bruising that was already beginning to show.

I looked up and saw him trading almost blindingly fast blows with Alue. His eyes were bright with anger and seemed to – literally – glow in the dying light of another day gone by. Was that Mako? And weren't his eyes supposed to be blue?

I shook off my thoughts as Alue laughed coldly and backhanded Zack across the face, sending him skidding across the cement, away from her. She dodged around a wild strike from Maka as both she and the witch Kanga raced past. "I can touch her as much as I want. In fact, after I get done killing you, I just might take her back with us to the Witch's Realm. We've always wanted to try our hands at some breeding programs. I wonder what the son or daughter of a Meister and a Witch would be?"

I shivered, breaking out into goose bumps, bringing TOM close to my chest for comfort.

These witches were...somewhat darker than I expected. I'd always wondered what witches did to captured humans, Demon Weapons, and Meisters when they didn't torture and kill them. I guess my question was answered. I really wish I was back to being ignorant. It's one thing to read and see something horrible. It is another thing entirely to be living it or hearing it about yourself.

Zack snarled and put on a burst of speed that brought him directly in front of Alue.

Alue's eyes widened and she tried to put some distance between them, but Zack was just too fast. He darted past her pathetic attempt at a guard and punched her with all his strength, directly in the face.

Alue went flying back, her nose splurting blood like a fountain. Zack followed her, wind visibly swirling in little scythes around his fist. He yelled, "Aero!" and socked the witch once again, this time in the jaw.

He didn't let up. He punched her once, twice, thrice more. Blood flew into the air and the witch Alue soon found herself growing desperate as her attempts to shake off Zack ended in failure every time.

"Let go of me!" Alue snapped, her nails growing until they resembled the talons on her feet. She lashed out and Zack only barely managed to duck out of the way and save his face from missing an eye and getting three new claw marks that would've probably resembled the ones I knew were forming on my back from that last Heartless attack at the Sohma compound.

"Hey!" I yelled, hastily putting TOM by the base of the tree I was leaning against and running towards the battling pair, intent on causing as much damage to the bwitch as I could in my damaged state. No one messed with my partner and got away with it!

"Stay back!" Zack yelled and I screeched to a halt.

He spared me a quick glance before jerking his head towards Maka who was beginning to look very bedraggled and bloody. "Go help that girl! I can handle this!"

Alue's eyes glowed with the force of her rage. "Handle _me?!_ Why you insufferable wretch! I'll have your carcass dragged to the Witch's Realm as an exploit for this insult!"

Zack stuck his tongue out at her and pulled down the bottom of his eyelids childishly. "Gotta' catch me first slowpoke! I've gotta' say though, yer not doing a very good job of it so far."

Alue screamed, her rage growing at Zack's continued insults. Darkness surrounded her form and the ground she was hovering over, little tendrils breaking off from the rest to caress the open air, leaving taint in its wake.

Kanga stopped her rather one sided battle with Maka as she stared back at her friend. "Time to release the darkness already?" she asked, grin stretching sickly across her face as she let the darkness consume her.

Heartless began pouring out of the darkness below the two witch's forms. I darted across the small space between Maka, Kanga, and myself just in time to block a kick aimed at Maka's head with my good arm.

"Hey!" I yelled back at Maka, straining underneath the continued force of the kick.

"What?!" Maka yelled, quickly and efficiently dispatching Heartless with Soul. I had to admit that I was somewhat envious of her skill.

"Partner up?" I questioned in a strained tone as my knees buckled slightly, sweat beading and dripping down my forehead. I gritted my teeth and pushed back as hard as I could, waiting for her answer.

Maka didn't even hesitate as she swiped above my head with Soul, his sharp blade practically splitting the air.

Kanga did a series of quick back-flips to bring herself out of harms way while I darted behind Maka and killed the Shadow that had attempted to attack her blind side. We ended up back to back, protecting each other from any sneak attacks as we stared over our shoulders at each other.

"Thanks," both Maka and I said at the same time. We paused, startled, before we laughed.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you," Kanga taunted as she stood up from the crouch she'd landed in, body slightly..._skewed_.

I brought my fists up into my standard fighting pose while Maka positioned Soul's blade in front of her. We scowled and gave each other a quick glance. What I saw in her gaze and what she apparently saw in mine was enough. We darted off and quickly fell into a zigzag pattern to throw off any attacks she might send at us.

"Bang Stomp!" Kanga yelled, a continuous stream of pink energy blasts in the shape of a kangaroo's foot flying at us.

I, surprisingly in the front, took out the first one with a harsh punch. I spun, putting my back to the next attack and Maka darted in front of me, taking out the next one by spinning the entire scythe and making the attack fly off to the side. Maka spun on her heel, putting her back to the enemy this time, and I was right there to block the next attack with an uncontrolled fireball that blew up the one I was aiming for and two more behind it. The smoke from the large blast that I'd caused created an effective smokescreen which Maka and I took full advantage of.

I nodded at the sandy blond haired girl before darting out of the smoke. Kanga was there to greet me and we collided, trading punches and kicks with strength and speed I was unaccustomed to. I wanted to stop and think on how this was possible, but I didn't dare. Kanga was a more than worthy opponent for me. In fact, if I didn't have this strange power on my side and Maka backing me up, I'm pretty sure she would've been kicking my ass.

Keeping my goal in sight I slowly began to pressure Kanga towards the wall of a nearby building, my bad arm throbbing with every attack I dealt. I did this using a bit of reverse psychology that I had learned in my psychology class in what seemed like eons ago. When she tried to go the way I wanted I made fighting me a bit easier by lessening the intensity and impact of my blows. When she tried to go the way I didn't want her to go I put on a bit more pressure, hitting harder and faster than what she expected. It was hard and I almost slipped up twice, but I finally managed to get her into the right position by pouring my energy into my leg and kicking Kanga square in the the solar plexus.

Kanga's eyes bulged and her legs collapsed from beneath her as she wrapped her arms protectively around her gut.

I grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the wall behind her, not letting her get a chance to regain her breath. "Maka!"

Maka quickly brought down her scythe from where she had jumped into the air before my scream. Her form was glowing and her scythe changed shape until it resembled a blue crescent moon shape on the end of her shaft that was the size of a car, if not larger.

I only had time to wonder how in the world that tiny girl was able to lift something that huge before I had to scramble out of the way of taloned feet. Others might have stayed and took the hit so Maka could get her own in. I was not that person. I had already been impaled two times too many within the last couple of days thank-you-very-much.

"Kanga you _idiot!_ How could you let those upstarts get the drop on you?" Alue yelled, shielding her compatriot with her own battered body.

"Sorry, Alue," Kanga whined, wiping the blood from her split lip as she tried to stand, using the wall behind her as support.

I hadn't noticed, but Maka, Zack, and I had certainly done a number on the two witches. Alue had blood running down the side of her mouth and down her chin. Her dress was ripped and dirty, probably from getting slammed into the ground so many times by Zack. She had bruises appearing on her fair skin in the shape of fists and giant hands. She didn't make a pretty sight, but at least Zack didn't have Buster on him. Then she would've been beyond _fucked up._

Kanga also looked like she'd been put through the wringer. She had bruises on virtually every part of her body, especially on her face and forearms. Blood ran from her split bottom lip and dozens of nicks and cuts from Maka's blade littered her body. Her clothes were mostly spared aside from a few blood and dirt stains.

Alue rolled her eyes before waving a hand at the ground in front of us. A chasm of shifting darkness opened up and spat out at least two dozen Shadows, Mega-Shadows, Yellow Operas, and a new enemy that I didn't recognize off the top of my head.

"Heartless, attack!" Alue yelled as a relatively normal looking portal compared to the darkness filled one opened up behind the two witches.

As Alue helped Kanga into the portal, Maka and I were bombarded at basically every angle imaginable. From the air, the side, the ground, from buildings to sneak attacks. Everything was fair game in this free for all. We managed to hold our own by teaming up again and again until all the Heartless were gone. The only thing, was so were Kanga and Alue.

"Damn it," I cursed, flinching as the pain that had been momentarily absent returned full force. My shoulders slumped as the exhaustion weighed down on me. I gave my body a once over and cringed.

Bruises, in every shape, form, and stage imaginable littered every visible part of my body. Blood caked my bad arm, but underneath the blood and dirt I could see my bone shining through, clear as day. My clothes were ripped, dirty, and bloody and I didn't currently have any extras. Man, Zack was gonna' kill me...wait a minute...

"Wait!" I suddenly yelled, spinning around to get a better look at my surroundings.

I was on a narrow street with sparse trees tucked into tiny squares of bricks that looked like they'd been made and cultivated special. By every tree was an entrance to a building or tiny store with names and advertisements that I didn't recognize. Further down the street was a small motel and a place called Chupa Cabra's that I knew was Spirit's usual hang out. Next to Chupa Cabra's was a small bar and grill that looked a bit run down and tattered with age. A sign next to the door read, "Spinilly's. Open since 1833," that impressed the hell out of me. If it had been open that long then it was bound to have some interesting stories. Maybe I would stop by later if I got permission and found Zack.

I turned my attention towards the other end of the street. Maka was staring at me but was obviously refraining from commenting as she helped me look, albeit with a suspicious look on her face like, Zack or I was going to attack her as soon as she let her guard down. I ignored the suspicion for now, far too grateful for the help to even begin to try and convince her we meant no harm. The only thing I saw on the end of this side of the street was the basketball court that I had landed in when Alue had thrown me the second or third time. I didn't see Zack anywhere.

"Zack, where are you?!" I yelled, hysteria slightly tinging my tone. I couldn't lose my partner. Not _now_.

"Over here..." I heard his voice mumble from somewhere.

"Where?!" I yelled once more, relief hitting my body like an out of control freight train. "I can't hear you when you mumble!"

"Here!"

I whipped around, whimpering in pain as I jostled my arm. His voice was coming from the basketball court. I jogged over and yelled his name once more, receiving only a muttered location once again. I rounded the tree I had dropped TOM under and finally understood why Zack had been muttering. I snorted, repressing a laugh as I brought up a hand to cover my mouth.

Zack glared at me. He was upside down and stuck to the tree thanks to some glowing purple energy globs that closely resembled glue. I glanced back to see that Maka had followed me and gave a mumbled, "Hold on," grinning all the while.

I rounded the tree completely and stopped directly in front of him. "Having fun?" I asked, amused despite myself.

"Shut up," he pouted.

"Ooh. Good retort. Maybe I should've asked if you're done with your S&M stuff now. There are children present you know," I said as I crouched down to be closer to my partner's face.

"Oh, just get me down from here already! I think my head's gonna' explode!" he whined, wriggling around peevishly.

I giggled as I tried pulling on the energy globs, but they did nothing more than readjust themselves around the trunk of the tree and Zack's body. I tried to cut through it by creating a small, but strong jet of fire like a blowtorch, but it sputtered and died out just as it made contact with the globs.

"Sorry Zack, but it looks like you're stuck there until I can find someone to cut you down," I informed him sadly as I gave up on getting him down.

He looked horrified at the news.

"You can't just leave me here! My head really will explode!" Zack exclaimed and, I guess, trying to flail around but ultimately failing thanks to his still bound status. He just ended up wriggling around like a worm on a hook which set me off into loud snorts and laughs.

"Excuse me, but maybe I can help," I heard Maka say from behind me.

I looked over my shoulder to see Maka standing there with Soul slung over her shoulder, still in scythe mode. That made me wonder why he was still like that, but the answer came to me soon after I thought the question. We were summoned by witches. It stands to reason that Maka would be leery of us until Shinigami-sama or one of her instructors gave us the all clear.

I shook off my introspective mood and asked, "Won't you get into trouble? I don't know how this world works, but generally witches aren't good news in any of the cultures I've heard of except their own and we _were_ kinda' summoned by them from what I can tell."

"Who cares!" Zack interrupted with a wail. "Hurry up and cut me down! I don't want my head to explode!"

I whirled around and punched him lightly in the ribs. "Hush Zack! You don't want her to get in trouble do you?"

Zack pouted, but shut his mouth all the same.

Maka looked at us shrewdly, as if looking through our skin, past our blood and organs, and straight into our souls. I wondered what she saw.

"I don't think I have anything to worry about from you two," she said slowly. She looked at me. "You have a lot of madness in your soul, but your so-called 'partner'," she nodded at Zack who had stopped fooling around and was listening to Maka intently, "keeps it well in check. I'm surprised at how well both of your souls mesh. It's like they were almost _made_ for each other."

_With the Voice, I wouldn't exactly be surprised by that,_ I thought to myself wryly.

With the madness thing, I wasn't exactly surprised by that either. I knew I was only hanging onto sanity by the proverbial bloody tips of my ragged fingers. I had been clawing at the slope I was hanging off of, trying to pull myself back up onto somewhat solid ground, but always managed to slip at the last moment. It made me wonder what would be the thing to finally set me off...

"Though," Maka said, interrupting my thoughts. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, "what did you mean with the whole 'I don't know how this world works' comment? Do you not come from this world?"

I looked at Zack awkwardly, not exactly sure if we should tell her, but it wasn't as if we really had a choice if we wanted to get him cut down from the tree he was practically glued to.

Zack nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I'm from a planet dubbed The Planet or Gaia if you wanna' get fancy, but most of the citizens call it The Planet and she's from, uh..." He looked at me in question.

"Earth," I supplied. At Maka's questioning stare I clarified with a, "Different Earth from this one. I'm pretty sure in this world there was no World War I and II..." I trailed off, quirking a brow questioningly.

Maka shook her head. "You're right. There's never been a World War II, let alone a World War I. Just the war between Shinigami-sama and the witches."

I nodded. "Right. Anyways, we're both from different worlds and we're trying to get him," I aimed my thumb at my partner, "back to his friends."

Maka tilted her head slightly to the side, her brows furrowing inquisitively. "Well, what about you? Don't you want to go back to your own world?"

I flinched. "That's not possible anymore." I quickly shook off my melancholy before it had a chance to find a place to sink in its claws and gave a forced smile as I stood from my crouch. "If Zack's happy then _I'm_ happy. That's all that matters. Now, can you please get him down? I don't think a dead Zack is going to do anyone much good."

"One more question," Maka insisted. "Do you know what those creatures were? The ones that came out of the darkness?"

"Heartless," I supplied and proceeded to inform her of all the relevant information she'd possibly need. I perceive a tape recorder in my future. Maybe this was why Mickey actually ordered Sora not to tell anyone of other worlds. All the damn explaining you had to do...

Once I was done with my explanation Maka didn't hesitate in cutting Zack down from where he was glued to the tree, though it took a lot of chopping and cutting. I bet Soul was feeling a bit miffed at being used this way, but he didn't say anything.

Zack fell to the ground with an almighty crash and that was when I remembered that TOM had been beneath him at the base of the tree.

"Get off of my cute little beer belly robot!" I snapped as I dove towards Zack and shoved him out of the way, cradling TOM's slightly dented body to my chest with my good arm. I fingered his dent and hoped that it would come out later. "My poor baby," I cooed.

"Yeah. Give love to the robot instead of your poor, neglected partner. I feel so loved," Zack said mournfully from where I'd pushed him, his lower body bent awkwardly over his head and squishing his upper body into the ground.

I giggled at the funny picture he made before shoving him upright so that I could bestow upon him a hug...not that he deserved one what with denting TOM and all. Never say that I didn't have my kind moments. His amethyst eyes lit up bright with laughter and good humor.

Zack looked pleased with the attention and I couldn't bring myself to continue scolding him. He was sorry and that was all that mattered. Well, _that_ and the fact that he was okay, despite battling that witch all by himself. I looked my partner over carefully at that thought, slowly looking over his wounds.

He had a multitude of cuts, scrapes, and bruises littered across his body that looked painful, but not very serious. The most serious injury he had that I could see was a deep gash across his chest that looked like he'd been caught by a whip with thorns on it that had ripped out a chunk of flesh. I winced upon seeing it. It was certainly an ugly wound, not unlike my arm.

"If you're not opposed to it, I would like to take you back to Shibusen and Shinigami-sama. He might be able to help your travel problems and I need to go explain everything to him," Maka said as she watched us, her eyes sparkling with mirth.

"Who's Shinigummy-sama? Is that a new candy?" Zack asked innocently as he stood up, brushing himself free of the dirt that had managed to smear into his clothes.

I sighed, knowing we would both be needing another bath soon and someone to clean and bandage our wounds. I grimaced at the thought. I wasn't looking forward to it, especially since I had such a deep wound. Getting water and soap into it would probably be more painful than the injury itself.

"It's Shini_gami_-sama," Maka replied indignantly for the sake of her absent God, "and he'd the God of Death. He rules over it and has kept the world in balance since before our time. He founded a school not too long ago that trains Demon Weapons and Meisters like me to defend the world from Kishin's! The least you can do is show him a little respect!"

Zack put his hands up in front of him defensively, his eyes widening with surprise. "Sorry. I just thought you said Shinigummy. No offense was meant or anything."

I patted my partner on the back sympathetically after tucking TOM into the crook of my bad arm. Maka could be a bit...intense, just like Zack when the mood struck him, but I'm pretty sure he'd get over it quickly enough. He was just tired. Getting attacked four times in the course of two – or was it three? – days was bound to take its toll on anyone, even Zack. I was coping simply because I had something to cuddle. Cuddling makes the world go round and all, and I was a sucker for cuddling.

Maka huffed a tense little sigh before her shoulders slumped forward the tiniest fraction, the tension dissipating slowly, if at all.

"Sorry," she sighed, letting the tension built up in her shoulders and upper back go bit by tiny bit. She gave a tight smile, "I didn't mean to snap. I guess I'm more tired than I thought."

"Then we should take them to Shinigami-sama and let him handle this mess," a male voice I recognized as Soul Eater said, his voice echoing from what seemed like everywhere and nowhere.

"Who was that?" Zack asked, the muscles in his arms and legs tensing slightly in preparation to run or block a hit.

I remained almost carelessly relaxed and gave Zack a small smile when he aimed a quick glance of reproach my way. He'd find out soon enough that there wasn't anything to get all riled up over.

Maka looked startled, then a bit sheepish as she took the scythe that had been slung across her shoulders and placed it, butt first, on the ground. "Sorry. I totally forgot to introduce him. I forgot that you claim to come from a different world. Everyone knows what Demon Weapons are here."

I raised a brow at the "claim" comment, but gave a mental shrug of indifference. It's not like it mattered. I somehow knew, deep in my bones, that Shinigami-sama would believe and help us. It wasn't so much an ability as a gut feeling. I'd been following my gut in this world too much already, but it hadn't let me down yet.

"He's a Demon Weapon, more specifically a scythe." Maka picked the end of the scythe up off the ground and used her fingers to spin it rapidly before throwing it up into the air. "Transform Soul!"

With a flash of bright white light a boy with silvery gray hair and wine red eyes landed in a crouch on the ground in front of us. The scythe was nowhere to be seen.

Seriously. I was beginning to get a headache from all of this switching around and whirling. Also, Maka revealing Soul like that when he could've been an effective secret weapon made my mind boggle. Why in the world would she give up that little secret when she really had no reason to believe our explanation of different worlds and Heartless? It made no _sense_ even if we were on her home turf, unless...

I spotted him the moment I actually tried to sense him. He was hiding in the shadow of an alley hidden between two tall buildings on either side of it. His eyes were hidden behind the glint on his glasses, his eerie smile practically glaring out of the darkness.

I pretended I didn't see a damn thing, but couldn't help the fact that I grabbed Zack's arm with trepidation. He gave me a confused look, but I pursed my lips and kept my peace. I didn't want to start any trouble if Stein was here to follow us and keep us out of trouble.

"Hi," I greeted Soul with a tired smile, a little weary of him despite myself. I knew in my soul that he wouldn't harm us but I guess my paranoia was acting up again.

I've had my paranoia issue ever since I was a little kid. It started small. Like, I would always be looking over my shoulder for something that wasn't there, even when I knew I was in a safe place. Or, if I was feeling scared, I put my back to a wall, barricaded myself with pillows or blankets and then wrapped the remaining blankets around me, creating – what I thought at the time – was an impenetrable fortress that nothing and no one could break through.

Nothing except reality and nightmares. Or perhaps my reality _was_ the nightmare. It all seems so trivial now. I no longer had to worry about growing up and finding a job to support a family that didn't and wouldn't exist for a long time to come. If ever. I didn't really have to worry about money since the little munny or, if you wanted to get technical, the little gold nuggets that Zack and I had managed to collect within the last few days was more than sufficient for our needs.

Now, my reality was more along the lines of: make Zack _live._ That was the only thing that mattered. Not me. Not my needs. Not anything, but helping my partner.

It was so strange to think of myself as so selfish before, but in light of recent events it was kind of hard not to. I was selfish in my world. I was a selfish, spoiled brat that almost always got her way and what she wanted which wasn't to say I was a bad kid because I wasn't. Not at all. I went to school, tried to at least pay attention in class if nothing else, I never went out partying except for special sleepovers with friends that I trusted implicitly. Still, I couldn't shake the image of Kitty and, and _Salem_ –

I gagged, suddenly and harshly at the image of my bruised and tender hands wrapped tightly around the base of a dented and bloodstained baseball bat. The feeling of warm tears running down my cheeks, the wind turning the tear tracks into icy little trails that resembled the frozen tundra of my soul –

– I cut off my own thoughts before more horrifying images and sounds and half remembered horrors could fill my head.

"Kai, what happened? Are you sick?" Zack asked concernedly, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and supporting most of my weight using his bear hug.

I slowly became aware of the sweat dripping down my face and the sick feeling in my gut. I _did_ feel sick, but not the physical way. Not really. It was more an emotional one that made me sick to my stomach and made my body tremble with fear and some other, undefinable emotion. The closest thing I could think of was a mixture of self-hatred, anger, and an unshakeable depression that seemed almost impossible to rid myself of.

But I did.

Standing safely beneath Zack's muscled arm and with a concerned Soul and Maka staring at me I forced myself to calm down and push the memories back down. Now, was not the time. The time may never come. I had to think of those memories as unimportant and continue on. No backing down and no bowing out. There was only one action I could take and that was marching forward to the beat of my own drum.

Once I felt sufficiently recovered and my body had stopped shaking with the overflow of emotions ravaging through my body I wiped the sweat from my brow and said in as strong a voice I could muster, "Sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen. I'm okay now."

Soul gave Maka a questioning glare as she stared at my chest, apparently looking at my soul. I wondered what it looked like. It must look interesting what with her staring at it for so long.

"Her madness acted up for a minute there," Maka said slowly, eyes narrowing as she adopted a thoughtful, cool pose. She went from staring at my chest to Zack's arm wrapped around my shoulders supportively, "but when Zack wrapped his arm around her she...calmed down for a lack of better words. Her soul is stable now at the very least." Maka stared into my eyes and I met her gaze, not wanting to miss the next words about to spill out into the air like dark, dirty secrets found out after so many years.

"I've never seen a soul like yours before," she said, "but you might want to talk to one of my teachers about it. That _can't_ be normal."

"What's wrong with her soul?" Zack asked anxiously, his arm squeezing me tight against his side.

"It's like its...broken," Maka explained. "Almost shattered to pieces really. There's three main cracks, but to the right where her eye is supposed to be it's just...gone. Like a whole piece of herself was ripped out of her chest."

_Damn it_, I thought as Zack gave me a stern look, _his overprotective tendencies are coming out full force. He's going to be on me like a druggie needing his fix._

"Let's just go see your Shinigami-sama. We need to find a way to get to Hello Bastard as soon as we can. I don't relish the thought of trekking all over the universe to find his friends," I said hurriedly, trying to get Zack's mind back on the track of finding his friends.

It wasn't like I minded Zack being concerned over me. That would be hypocritical. I just didn't want him to, but I knew that once Zack got a whiff of something he deemed needed his attention that thing was screwed. Fortunately for me I knew of a way to distract the overgrown puppy. What did puppies like most? Well, playing for one which, if you were particularly creative, could equal _distraction_ in your mind. I was pretty creative.

I started walking, breaking Zack's hold around my shoulders, but grabbed his hand before he could look hurt or complain dramatically that I didn't love him. At least if I had some type of contact with him his overprotective tendencies wouldn't be as bad as they could be.

I was right. Zack followed me, and though he was still giving me a look that said we _would_ be talking about what Maka said earlier, I knew that if I could keep him distracted until the next time something happened I wouldn't be hearing of my little fit for a long time to come.

I didn't like manipulating Zack this way, but I wanted to talk about what was bothering me even less. I'd rather pitch myself head first off the nearest high building if I was being blunt.

Maka and Soul quickly took point while Stein continued to follow us from the shadows. I saw Zack stiffen once or twice when Stein got too close, but he generally remained relaxed and carried on a conversation with the two teenagers in front of us. I really shouldn't call them teenagers though. I was a teenager too, just...more mature than them I guess. I was guessing that they were thirteen and I was fifteen which made about a two year age difference. A lot could happen in two years. A lot to change a person. I could certainly remember the days that changed me.

We continued down the paved roads, buildings passing us on either side. Zack made our new friends laugh by regaling them with a story about one of the misadventures he'd gotten up to with Cloud. I laughed at the story where Zack made Cloud sleep over at his house and promptly got the blond roaring drunk. He'd dragged Cloud out for a night on the town where Cloud then set to systematically and efficiently destroying his own reputation.

He flirted with men and women alike and, in a few instances, brooms and a bottle of scotch. He puked all over Reno when he and Zack stumbled across he and Rude getting their own kind of pissed. A lot of women were happy to give the little blond their numbers after that. Reno wasn't exactly Casanova if you knew what I mean.

After utterly destroying his own reputation Zack then proceeded to drag Cloud to the practice rooms in the Shinra building. They'd found Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis having a three way battle with Sephiroth easily pounding his two friends into the dirt, all the while taunting them and their lack of training.

Of course, at that point in time, it had all been in teasing good fun between long time friends. Cloud, however, hadn't known that and in his smashed state of mind didn't really care. All he saw was a pretty, mean, and blurry silver haired woman beating on two other women and proceeded to go to the two ladies aid.

Zack hadn't been fast enough to stop him and when Cloud opened his mouth to yell at Sephiroth he hadn't been able to get his breath back long enough to go save his skin. He wouldn't have stopped him anyways after what he said.

"Evil Valkyrie from the darkest part of hell, leave those two women alone!"

The battle was stopped dead, the only sounds that of the artificial breeze flowing throughout the fake trees since they'd walked in on them in the hologram training room and Zack laughing so hard it sounded like someone was dying.

"Valkyrie? Did he just call me a woman?" Sephiroth blinked then stared down at his _flat_ and _manly_ chest. He gave the blond a confused look and said, "I'm not a woman. I am not in possession of a vagina."

That set Genesis off who dropped his sword and proceeded to roll around on the ground, breathless from laughter.

"Hark, woman! You and yer _e-val_ ways shall not touch a hair on these two ladies heads!" Cloud exclaimed, his voice slightly slurring as he brandished Zack's pilfered broad sword, aiming the heavy blade at Sephiroth's throat. He wasn't sober enough to keep the blade level, however, and it lowered until it was pointing at Sephiroth's crotch instead.

Sephiroth gave an indignant squawk which set off Angeal as he had never heard his friend make such a noise before. He promptly leaned on his Buster Blade that he had buried a few inches into the virtual ground and proceeded to laugh himself sick.

Cheeks burning and Mako green eyes lit with an unholy fire Sephiroth leveled Masamune in front of himself and hissed, "Prepare to _die._"

The only thing that saved Cloud that day was blind, _stupid_ luck and Zack's intervention.

Realizing that his little buddy was in trouble but big, Zack had managed to crawl across the ground until he was behind Cloud, too weak from laughter to lift himself up to better defend him. Instead, he gave a rough shove to Cloud's rear end which made him give out an indignant squawk of his own and stumble forward towards the blade of Masamune.

However, when it firmly looked like Cloud was about to be skewered by the livid Sephiroth and his trusty blade he tripped over his own two feet and went rolling along the ground until he landed at Sephiroth's feet.

Sephiroth's hair – his beautiful and silver _hair_ – was then promptly treated to a puke bath.

His scream became legendary among the employees of Shinra that day.

As Sephiroth ran, practically teleporting, back to his room to rid himself of the foul smelling vomit, Cloud blinked from where he'd been knocked on his ass and tilted his head, scratching the back of it curiously. "Where'd the silver lady of doom go? What was her name...Fluffyroth?"

Zack, Angeal, and Genesis were probably the first people in history to nearly kill themselves laughing.

By the time Zack was finished with his story we had passed through a good portion of Death City and had climbed the massive stairs leading to Maka's school, Shibusen. I had recovered fully from my little fit and was laughing just as hard as Maka and Soul at Zack's story. I couldn't even imagine the scene described. Actually, I could, which only made it funnier.

Once the four of us recovered from our Zack induced hysterics and Zack and I had finished gaping at the school like tourists, Maka and Soul led us through the school and to what they called the "Death Room."

I felt uneasy as we passed beneath the guillotines, wondering if they were going to drop down on us at any moment even though I knew they wouldn't. See? Paranoia.

We exited into a chamber that seemed to expand forever yet seemed to compress itself into a small room at the same time. It was very disconcerting.

Standing in front of a large, ornate mirror was who I recognized as Shinigami-sama.

"'Ello! 'Ello! 'Ello! I'm Shinigami-sama. Who're you?" he greeted our small group cheerfully, clearly aiming the last question at Zack and I.

Zack and I opened our mouths to answer, but they snapped closed at the next words to escape from behind the Death God's mask.

"Oh! Oh! Never mind! I know who you are Kai Chan. Boy, I didn't expect you here for a few more weeks at least! You made good time."

I stopped dead, his words echoing in my head.

..._What?!_


	4. Chapter 4

Not as long as I wanted it, but good enough. Thank you, everyone, for reviewing. Your kind words help me, even if it's only a little bit. Hell, even the _mean_ words help.

On another note, dressing people up is all sorts of fun. Especially when you manage to get the guys into drag.

* * *

Tumble

Chapter 4

* * *

Despite trying, first in blatant and then more subtle ways, I couldn't get Shinigami-sama to crack.

I tried asking outright. I tried asking nicely. I even tried demanding he tell me since what he said pertained to me, but he ignored me with cheerful abandon and went prattling on about Kishin and Death Scythes and souls, basically telling me what his school was and what they were all about.

Shinigami-sama may be my favorite character – or person as the case now was...I think – but I felt the distinct need to break his mask and then the face hiding behind it. Or skull. Still haven't figured that one out.

"– and since you've given us forewarning on those creatures called Heartless we would be happy to help you get to another world! I'm sure I have a spell or Stein-kun has an invention around that will work somehow," Shinigami-sama said cheerfully, bouncing on his...leg thing.

I glared at him sullenly, still a bit miffed that he'd said something so important and then acted like he hadn't said anything two seconds later. "Yeah. Fine." Zack nudged me and I added belatedly, "Thank you."

"Yer welcome Kai-chan!" Shinigami-sama chirped. "I'll get Stein right on your little problem. He'll solve it and you'll be on your way in no time!"

"Yeah, man, we would'a been lost without ya'. I really wanna' meet up with mah friends and who knows how long we would'ah been stuck here tryin' ta' find a way ta' get ta' Hello Bastard and –"

"Ha," I muttered, catching Zack's blunder. He heard my whispered mutter and quickly corrected himself and continued to blabber on, his arms gesturing wildly and his eyes shining excitedly.

That was when he did something that I had yet to see the few days I've been with him.

While still talking excitedly Zack ran back and forth a few times before dropping and popping back up, repeating the motions earnestly, if not religiously.

The legendary squats of old had finally made an appearance. For some reason seeing Zack doing the squats made me smile. It made me think he trusted me just that little bit more. That he was well on his way towards that happiness I craved for him.

Not to mention that it looked hilarious, but he didn't need to know that.

I tapped him on the shoulder and he paused in his blabbering to aim a curious look at me.

"Zack, I love you and am already used to your blabbering, but I'm not so sure that they are." I arched my brows at Shinigami-sama, Maka, and Soul. Maka and Soul looked a little bit dazed and Shinigami-sama had stopped acting so perky. I would assume it was because he had found somebody who could blab more than Black Star. At least Zack wasn't as arrogant. In fact, compared to Black Star, Zack was downright humble.

Zack smiled sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that. 'M used to Angeal telling me to shut it still." He laughed brightly, scratching the back of his head.

I patted him on the head. His spikes tickled my hand. I was a bit surprised, but only a bit. I had half-expected my hand to be impaled on his hair but it was surprisingly soft. I mean, I had told Yuki, Kyo, Haru, and Momiji that Zack's hair was epic, but I hadn't touched it before this moment. God, I really did have a hair fetish.

"– and as soon as I see Cloud it's going to be one big party from there on out man! We're gonna' par~tay hardy all day and night! And when I see Aeris again she's gonna' be SO happy to see me I just might get a kiss! Woo-hoo!"

I snorted.

"Er, that's nice Zack-kun," Shinigami-sama said, slowly regaining his energy. He looked at Zack and then switched to me before nodding to himself, seeming to come to some previously undecided decision.

"Kai-chan and Zack-kun how would you like to stay in my mansion with my son, Death the Kid and his two partners Liz and Patti?"

"You'd let us stay with your son?" I asked in slight shock. Shinigami-sama was extremely overprotective of his child so it was no wonder I was shocked. Kid also had OCD so I wasn't exactly confident that Kid could have two strangers in his house without freaking out. I already knew we wouldn't do anything to hurt or upset him on purpose, but Kid had a lot of idiosyncrasies that Zack and I may trample on in our ignorance.

"Of course Kai-chan! Kiddo-kun is a good boy and would love to have company. Besides, it's my mansion," Shinigami-sama said childishly, crossing his arms over his chest awkwardly, his too large hands getting in the way.

"Tobi is a good boy" was the first thing to pop into my head after that sentence. I bit my lip to ward off a snicker and instead nodded at Shinigami-sama gratefully.

"Also, Shinigami-sama, I would like to ask a favor if it's not too much trouble," Zack said, smiling as he stopped doing squats so he could look Shinigami-sama in the...eye sockets. I really wish Okubo would hurry up and reveal just what the hell Shinigami-sama is. It would make my life a heck of a lot less confusing.

"What would that be Zack-kun?" Shinigami-sama asked, the eye hole of his mask arching curiously.

"I want to give her a bit more training before we head on out," Zack replied casually, waving an arm over my head. "She's good, but not great if you couldn't already tell." We all glanced at my arm that I had wrapped a part of Maka's coat around to stop the bleeding on the way over. The black cloth was slick to the touch. I grinned sheepishly. I had quite honestly forgotten about it while we were swimming through explanations and Heartless and Hello Bastard.

"She _needs_ training or I'm afraid she's going to get herself killed." Zack shook his head, his bangs falling into his eyes. I could see the worry reflected in them and felt the guilt lick at me curiously, like it wasn't quite sure if it should really make me feel it or leave me alone for a bit.

"I can't help that I've had no formal training. What I know I've learned from TV or video games," I muttered, face burning. I know he didn't mean it like I was taking it, but I could get defensive and embarrassed over the most idiotic things, his opinion on my rather lack of fighting skills included.

Zack's eyes softened as he looked at me and ruffled my hair. "I know kid. Doesn't stop the fact that ya' suck."

I pouted, but knew what he was saying was true. My form sucked, the force put behind my blows was mediocre and best, and I tired way too easily. I was certainly no Tifa Lockhart or Zell Dincht.

Shinigami-sama and Zack discussed and hammered out a rough plan of attack. In exchange for Zack teaching a few classes how to defend themselves against Heartless and me teaching a couple classes about the different worlds that are out there, I would be taught by Zack, one or two students that had some combat experience under their belt, and one teacher of my choosing. I was a bit surprised that they'd let me choose my own teacher, but both Zack and Shinigami-sama insisted on it. They said that by choosing a teacher for me, they would be taking away from my potential. Some teachers actual teaching style would sometimes not mesh with my own. By choosing my own teacher they would be nipping that problem in the bud before it could even be a problem. Not only that, but they knew the student – in this case: me – would feel obligated to do their best after choosing a teacher because they chose that teacher especially for them. I could follow their logic after I translated it into normal speak. It made sense, all things considered.

"And I'll still get to keep Zack as a teacher?" I asked suspiciously. There was no way in hell I was going to do this if they took Zack from me. I enjoyed learning from him too much to stop just because we were gonna' be in this new world for a while.

"Of course kiddo. I wouldn't give up teaching you for the world," Zack laughed, ruffling my head again for good measure.

I sighed and took out a brush from one of my many pants pockets to run it through my hair. I may kinda' like having long hair, but now that I had it, I had to constantly resist the urge to chop it all off. It was pretty and I liked messing with it, but it was always getting caught in something and tangled up into giant knots. It made me wonder how women like Tifa and Aeris could manage their long hair.

We finalized a few more details, like where I should go if I wanted help creating a few good lesson plans and what Zack should do if he got seriously hurt sparring with the students. I thought the reverse of that was far more likely considering the fact that Zack was an ex-SOLDIER, but hadn't had the time to hone his reflexes to, you know, _not_ kill anyone that approached him or touched him the wrong way. I guess he and the students were just going to have to learn that one on their own because there was no way I was getting in the middle of a spar or fight with Zack involved. My bones and flesh ached at just the thought of getting hit by his large fists.

Shinigami-sama clapped his oversized hands cheerfully. "Okay, peeps! Now that, that is all out of the way, why don't you both head on down to the infirmary with Maka-chan and Soul-kun. You all look a bit...beat up."

That was putting it nicely and everyone knew it. Even, cute, oblivious Zack.

We said our goodbyes to Shinigami-sama and were led through the maze of a school that was also known as Shibusen. I didn't doubt for a second that if I was alone I would be lost in a heartbeat. It seemed to almost be designed that way, pulsing to a heartbeat that normal mortals couldn't hear or see. I noticed that Maka and Zack seemed to be especially attuned to it though. While I could ignore it with a bit of practice it looked like those two were hearing the pulses like screams directly in their ears. Impossible to ignore. Maybe I was just a hardheaded, hothead and couldn't be bothered with noises from another world. I had grown up with people telling me all my life that magic didn't exist. Don't fill your head with such childish fantasies. I wish those same people could see me now. They would be rolling in their graves and going on about God and the Apocalypse by now.

I couldn't help the dark smirk that crossed my lips at the thought of all those zealous, religious idiots having a mass faint spell at the thought of different worlds and even more religions and proof of higher powers. Hercules and the Olympian Gods came to mind. I believed in higher powers myself so this whole situation didn't effect me near as badly as it would've done to others.

We arrived at the infirmary about five minutes later. I could hear murmuring going on inside and felt my heart suddenly stop. I recognized one of those voices. In fact, I recognized it a little too well.

Maka knocked on the door of the infirmary. "Excuse me Medusa-sensei, but we have four injured people out here. Are you free to look us over or should we go to Nygus-sensei?"

"I'm free dear," Medusa practically sang as she opened the door. If she was surprised at Zack's and my own presence she didn't show it. I had to give her props for that one. I would've at least asked what the hell we were doing in Shibusen or why we all looked so beat up.

The blond haired "nurse" opened the door wider and motioned us in. I was greeted by the sight of a cabinet full to bursting with medicine and instruments of all shapes, colors, sizes, and forms. Two beds were set beside each other near the window on the far side. They were, thankfully, empty but that didn't stop my hackles from rising. I sensed something in this room. Something bad. Whether it was Medusa or something that the evil bwitch had cooked up I wasn't certain.

A hand landed on my shoulder and I could see Zack giving me a strange look. I shrugged, unable to untense my shoulders. It felt like something was watching me. Something dangerous, quick, and dark. I may not have honed, battle hardened instincts, but I did have the extra knowledge of who and what Medusa was and her goals. It would not only be stupid of me to let my guard down, but also suicidal and I was unwilling to put Zack in any kind of danger that I could've easily avoided.

I really needed to get my priorities straight. Should I tell the people of their fates on the worlds I land on or should I leave it alone? I know that Maka and the gang would turn out alright. People would die, things would be hard, and may not ever be the same again, but it would still turn out alright. Maybe that was the mission that the Voice had been speaking about. Maybe my mission was to inform everyone I came across their positions in this vast universe.

No. That was too easy. The Voice wouldn't give anyone such an easy mission. In fact, I'm pretty sure that it could've given that kind of mission to a normal mail person if it wanted. It could've probably even done the mission itself, if that were the case, via weird prophetic dreams or through a world's deities or power figures.

And I was right back to pondering my own existence and the purpose of it all again. Wonderful. Sometimes I wondered why I hadn't decided to quit while I was ahead. I'd been wondering for years before this whole mess and I was still wondering now. I wondered if I would ever stop wondering.

"It's your turn dear," Medusa's voice suddenly broke into my thoughts as Maka hopped off the bed, her injuries bound neatly and tightly. Professionally.

I looked up to see Zack smiling and giving a nod as he clambered up onto the bed. I watched Medusa like a hawk. I trusted Zack and his ability to sense danger, but I was paranoid and didn't want my partner getting into trouble that I could've easily made him avoid. Decisions, decisions. This was almost like playing God except scarier. I wasn't meant to have this knowledge or power. I didn't trust myself with it which was why I stayed quiet. Too many things could go wrong and it would be all my fault. The endless possibilities almost made me want to bury myself in Zack's protective arms and never come out again.

Medusa's examination of Zack went off without a hitch. She never so much as twitched weird in his direction which relieved me greatly. Then I realized it was my turn and I wanted something to go wrong so I could have an excuse to slip away and never see the cold eyes of the great snake aimed my way again.

"Hop on up kiddo," Medusa smiled and patted the bed she was sitting in front of.

Feeling very much like the "kid" and "kiddo" that everyone kept calling me lately I hopped up onto the bed and barely flinched when Medusa unwound the cloth I'd wrapped around my arm. It came off with a disgusting squelching noise that made me want to vomit. The sight of my arm really did almost make me vomit.

It was green around the edges and pus was seeping out of it slowly enough to be almost unnoticeable. If I wasn't covered in dirt and sweat and blood it might have been unnoticeable. The bone nearly poking out of the skin was also an interesting, if completely disgusting, sight.

Of course, I'd never been injured anywhere near this level before. Sure I'd suffered cuts, bruises, and abrasions – the kind of injuries that any kid acquires during their childhood, but this was just...grotesque. And made me squeamish. Apparently pus was the thing that grossed me out. Go figure. I would've thought it'd be the bone poking up through the blood and gore.

Medusa's eyes widened in surprise very realistically. I had to give her a grudging sort of respect at the high level her acting skills were on par with. If I didn't know better I would've thought she was actually concerned over me!

"This needs to be cleaned and bandaged immediately," Medusa ordered, her voice soothing and calm in my ears.

She got up and walked over to the shelf lined against the wall filled top to bottom with bottles filled to the brim with medication. She stood on her tiptoes to reach the second shelf from the top and grabbed a bottle that had purple colored pills inside. She fell back on her heels and grabbed a tube about the size of a toothpaste bottle that looked suspiciously like Neosporin. The last thing she grabbed from the shelf was a roll of bandages from the right hand drawer of the shelf.

She dumped everything on the table next to the bed I was on and I gulped as she picked up a needle and a spool of thread to, presumably, sew my arm back up. I scooted back as she came closer, terrified, the needle in her hand glinting in the light.

My back hit a warm chest and muscular arms wrapped around my chest, effectively pinning me in place. I didn't really notice, my eyes still glued to the needle and thread in Medusa's hands. My heart was in my throat and beating rapidly. My hands trembled and sweat started to gather on my brow.

"Are you afraid of needles?" Zack's voice rumbled in my ears, vibrating my head against his chest. I nodded rapidly and tried to hop down onto the ground. Anywhere, but near the needle glinting maliciously in the disguised witch's hands.

Zack stopped me with practiced ease and scooted me back towards Medusa. I whimpered. I couldn't help it. It just...kinda' slipped out.

He paused and I waited in the ensuing silence, trying not to tremble, my eyes glued to the sharp point of that damned _needle_.

"Would it help if I sat with ya'? Maybe hold yer hand?" Zack asked nicely and I nodded, not wanting to be alone.

Zack hopped up on the bed and I hurriedly climbed into his lap, burying my face in his shirt wearily. When his fingers closed around the wrist of my injured arm and held it out towards Medusa I tensed and closed my eyes, unwilling to see her start her work.

"You know the things we really gotta' work on with you, ya' little pyro? Stamina. No offense, but your stamina kinda' sucks. I can battle for hours and, granted, I crash but hard afterwards but I can still battle. You kinda' go full force at the beginning and burn yourself out quickly. Kinda' like a civilian. Oh! And that reminds me. Were you a warrior back on yer planet? I know you said you learned off of TV and video games, but you kinda' move like one, but kinda' not at the same time which is weird. _You're_ kinda' weird, but I love ya' anyways."

Zack ruffled my hair teasingly and I scowled, not even noticing when Medusa started to sew my skin back together after carefully positioning the bone back in place.

Zack blabbered at me some more and I continued listening, letting his voice take me far away from my body and the needle gliding in and out of my skin. I barely noticed when Medusa finished and tugged on the stitches gently to see if they were tight enough and not too loose before sitting back, satisfied, and got up to wash her hands so she could work on my less severe injuries.

She finished up with me relatively quickly after that and kicked us out with a polite goodbye.

As we walked away the only thing I could think was, _Damn, she's good._

We reconvened in the hallway. I leaned on the wall and yawned, my mind feeling fuzzy. I really needed to work on my stamina. This was ridiculous. Not to mention kind of pathetic and I really needed to stop calling myself pathetic. I was making myself depressed and that was helping no one. Another thing I really needed to stop doing was talking to myself, but that was the only way I got intelligent conversation a lot of times. School was a bitch.

"You guys ready to head to Kid's?" Maka asked, covering a yawn with her hand politely.

"Up and beyond! I really wanna' see that Shinigami dude's kid. Is he a skeleton? Does he wear a mask like his old man? 'Cuz that would be so cool if he did!"

"Zack," I murmured, barely audible, "hush sweetie. The adults are tired from a long day of work. Time for kisses and hugs and its off to the land of dreams with you."

I got weird looks from Maka and Soul for that one, but come on! I'm tired, dizzy from blood loss, and I already had shit planned for me for the rest of the week. I needed sleep and I needed it bad. Besides, Zack knew I was joking...probably.

"But _mommy_," Zack chimed in mischievously, his eyes sparkling with fake tears as he turned big purple eyes on me, "I don't want to go to bed!"

I rolled my eyes and then lifted a hand to cover a yawn. "You can sleep with me Zack dear. That should keep the big, bad nightmares away."

Zack beamed. "Okay mommy-pyro! Your Zackypoo is here to serve!"

Soul gave a loud snort and Maka giggled, her eyes scrunching closed for a few, brief seconds before opening, a smile lingering on her lips.

"Do you two always act like this?" she asked.

Zack and I traded looks before we shrugged. We'd only known each other for a few days so we couldn't actually answer that question truthfully.

Maka sighed, but didn't pursue the question in good humor.

After that, Maka gathered us up and marched us straight to Death the Kid's house, or rather, mansion_._ The place was huge and looked a lot like Shinigami-sama's school. I would think he was narcissistic if I didn't know better what with him having images of himself everywhere. I think, really, that it was just because the citizens of Death City loved their God. They wouldn't be as happy as they were otherwise.

Zack ended up knocking on the humongous double doors. I would think it was because he wanted to, but it might've also had something to do with me kicking him lightly in the ass. It made me happy in any case because all our small group was doing before I kicked Zack was standing around staring at each other and who wanted that to continue after the first five minutes? I didn't want it to continue after the first five seconds.

Anyways, Zack knocked on the door and we stood there and waited and waited and _waited._ After about ten minutes had passed Maka got pissed and started kicking the door. I noticed during the course of the after battle we all became more irritable and random as time went by. Maka worst of all on the irritable side.

"I'm coming!" the voice I assumed was Death the Kid's bellowed from what sounded like the second or third floor. Then again, who knew how high he was because this place – as stated previously – was huge.

"Well, hurry it up already Kid!" Maka yelled, tapping her foot impatiently against the sidewalk.

I leaned against Zack and yawned, bored. I lifted his arm out of the way and burrowed into his side, trying to absorb the warmth he naturally emanated.

His arm slipped around my shoulders, pressing me to him. My arms gave his waist a squeeze and we continued to wait.

Just when the thought of camping out began to look almost completely irresistible, especially with the idea of using Zack as my sleeping bag rampaging around my head, the huge double doors leading into the mansion opened.

Death the Kid himself stood in the doorway, looking as neat as neat could be. The only thing different about him was that he was dressed for bed. It made me wonder what time it really was but, knowing him, he probably operated under an eight to eight basis. Rise at eight in the morning and sleep when it hit eight at night. I think Okubo also mentioned that somewhere in his manga, but I couldn't remember exactly where it was.

"I'm sorry about the wait," Kid said, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. He sent an apologetic look at Zack and I. "When Father called me I was totally unprepared for guests. The house is a little more presentable now."

Maka looked a little anxious about how our first meeting with Kid was going to go. To quickly put them both at ease I stepped forward with a smile and held out my hand for a good ol' American handshake. What a time to be feeling pride for a country that technically no longer exists. Homesickness, we meet again.

"It's no problem," I said warmly, taking his hand and giving it eight firm shakes. "I'm sorry we stopped by on such short notice. It's not everyday that you get travelers from different worlds about to stay in your mansion so you're more than excused!"

Zack stepped forward with his own warm smile and quickly copied my actions. I was relieved when he even copied how many times I shook his hand. "Yeah man! Don't worry 'bout somethin' as small as that. We'd be happy to camp out in the backyard if everything else failed."

Kid looked horrified at the mere thought of making his guests camp out in his backyard. "It would've never came to that! I would _never_ make a guest sleep out in the elements." He paused, looking thoughtful, before grimacing. "Except for Black Star."

I laughed while Zack looked confused, probably wondering who this Black Star was. I was glad he refrained from commenting. We'd probably be here all night if he'd asked.

"Since you're all getting along," Soul drawled, bringing our attention back to him and Maka, "I think Maka and I are gonna' take off. We've got to be ready for your demonstration on Monday and we have a mission tomorrow."

I had plum well forgotten about that. I nearly groaned aloud at the thought of coming up with a lesson plan. I didn't want to be a teacher, but I guess fair was fair. Lessons for lessons. I wondered if Shinigami-sama ever visited the world of Fullmetal Alchemist. Sounds like he operated under very similar conditions.

Shaking those thoughts out of my head for the moment I darted forward and embraced the white haired boy. He stiffened at the invasion of his personal space, but returned my hug with good grace, muttering, "Not cool," in my ear.

I stepped back, grinning. "Thanks for everything Soul. You make a good partner to have in battle."

He grinned himself, his sharp teeth glinting. "You too. Nice fist fightin'."

"Thanks." I turned away from Soul and waited for Zack to finish hugging Maka so I could get my turn. He had swept her tiny body into the air and was swinging her around with gusto, blathering a mile a minute into her ear before finally letting her down, ruffling her hair like he'd done to me so many times now.

With the opportunity open I pounced, seeing out of the corner of my eye Zack take Soul into his arms in a similar manner as Maka. I could practically see his discomfort wafting into the air. It filled me with an unholy sort of glee and it took all I had not to burst into laughter.

I set Maka down and muttered into her ear, "Thanks for everything. Be seeing you?"

"Of course," the petite blond replied and that was the end of that.

I waved the two partner's off as they quickly jogged away, probably wanting to get home before it got too much darker. I wish there was a way to get them home faster, but I didn't own a car so that option was pretty much out. Besides, it wasn't as if they had anything to worry about, even this late at night. Maka would cream anybody who so much as breathed at her the wrong way and Soul would kill whatever was left with gusto. It was kinda' cute.

After Maka and Soul were gone, Kid led us into his mansion, explaining some of the history surrounding his home and where we'd be staying. We'd be using separate rooms and we'd only be sharing the large home with Kid and Patti since Liz was sleeping over at Tsubaki and Black Star's house. It made me feel a bit lonely. I've come to find that I hate being alone lately.

The front room was simple, but elegant. It was decorated in shades of blacks and whites – typical coming from Death and his family. I practically expected it at this point – with a few accents of royal blue and gold peaking through in places. There was a large couch that looked like it could fit at least five people on it, a loveseat that could probably fit two people, pictures from times and places long past, and a fireplace that was, thankfully, void of any fire. It was way too hot to be sleeping or sitting next to roaring flames.

"I once again apologize for the mess," Kid said anxiously, for once valiantly resisting the urge to go and clean any "mess" that there may have been. I didn't see anything, but he was a shinigami. Maybe he could just see better than I could. I was still getting used to the fact that I could see well without my glasses.

"You're fine Kid," I said dismissively, trying to put him at ease before he could throw a fit or worry himself into a coma. I did not feel like calming him down without Liz here.

"It is _not_ fine! I'm doing a disservice to, not only my guests, but Father as well!" Kid exclaimed, wringing his hands together.

Luckily Zack, the King of calming people down through sheer presence, was here because he walked right on up to Kid, threw his arm around his shoulders, and started chattering his ear off.

Kid was stiff and trying to subtly inch away from my partner, but Zack ignored him without even wavering from his blabbering and, gradually, Kid began to relax, simply listening to Zack.

I laughed silently to myself and wandered off to do whatever. I just didn't want to make Zack lose his concentration or dispel the magic spell he currently had Kid ensnared in.

I wandered the large home, sometimes peeking into rooms to see if anything entertaining was in them. Usually I was greeted by nothing, but a normal bedroom with nondescript sheets and pillows, but sometimes I was rewarded with boxes lined up symmetrically against the wall that were filled with things like old baby clothes and various random paraphernalia.

Once I was done searching the bottom floor and was getting tired of being nosy in general I went back to where Zack was still blathering onto an attentively listening Kid and tiptoed past them and climbed up the stairs. I was curious about what I'd find up there considering all that I had found down on the first level.

I ended up not doing much exploring because I was attracted a ways down the hall and up another set of stairs where I could hear childish laughter echoing down and resounding happily in my ears.

Normally I would've been scared by something like that, especially since it was in a huge mansion and I had seen what happened to young girls in those kinds of movies, but I wasn't scared simply because I recognized who the laughter was coming from.

" – and Ms. Giraffe and Mr. Giraffe are getting married Ms. Bear! Aren't you happy? I'm gonna' get them the bestest gift ever and Kiddo-kun is goin' to come and have fun and party with us! Even sis is coming, even though she hates coming to weddings and anything fancy like that!" Patti chirped happily to one of her many stuffed animals, pouring herself a cup of tea, where she quickly added sugar cubes and something that looked like honey.

"...Hello," I greeted cautiously, knocking three times on the door frame since her door was wide open.

Patti turned her head to look at me and grinned, which threw me off slightly since I thought I might've scared her. Then again this is the Demon of Brooklyn. She probably saw or heard me coming a mile away which I should _totally_ ask her about if it's true...but I digress.

"Hi!" Patti chirped and I found myself subconsciously relaxing despite myself.

I knew Patti could be scary when she wanted to be, but right now she just made me want to smile and join in on her obvious fun. Besides, I could see the happiness reflecting in her blue eyes and it just made me want to dance and sing like the light glinting from within their depths.

"I see you're having a tea party. Mind if I join in?" I asked.

"Sure! You have the coolest little robot by the way. Can I dress you up?" Patti threw at me as I suddenly remembered TOM who had been relocated to my hip before I had been seen by Medusa thanks to a piece of guitar string that Soul randomly had.

It took me a few seconds to recover my train of thoughts, but I was soon smiling and replying with a happy, "Sure!" to getting dressed up.

Patti ran out of the room, but came back in only a few seconds later. I was stripped, redressed, and then sat at the little table she was hosting her tea party at so fast that I was still reeling an hour later when Kid and Zack eventually found us.

"Whoa! Kai yer lookin' good. How long ya' been up here anyways?" Zack asked me curiously, his eyes sparkling with good humor.

I took a sip of my tea, careful not to spill any on Kid's suit, the one that Patti had forced me into. I brought my gaze up and replied, "About an hour now. Have a good talk with Kiddo over there?" I asked serenely.

"Pretty good. Kiddo has some good stories and he's a pretty interesting guy!" Zack praised.

Kid blushed and ducked his head, muttering, "My name's _Kid_ damn it."

"That's good. Why don't you come and join us? That is, if it's alright with our gracious host," I invited, looking at Patti pleadingly. I'd been having a blast surprisingly, but it was still up to Patti if she wanted any boys crashing in on her thing.

"Sure! Come on in and take a se– wait! Stay there! I'll be right back!" Patti yelled as she shot to her feet and ran out of the room, the ribbon on the back of the dress she'd put on trailing out behind her.

What happened next made me wish desperately for a camera.

Patti came back into the room and had the guys stripped and redressed so fast that it left them dazed where they stood. I couldn't help but laugh myself sick on the inside at what the insane girl had forced them into.

Zack had been turned into a sexy cowboy, the brown hat sitting on his spikes a little awkwardly. I think that fact made him look even _more_ sexy. It was a shame he had a girlfriend and I only thought of him in a platonic way. Ah, story of my life.

Anyways, the hat wasn't the end of the story. Patti had also forced him into a vest – _just_ a vest might I add. No shirt whatsoever. She'd also somehow managed to wrangle him into a pair of tight leather pants that made Zack's badass level go up a few levels. The boots with the spurs on the ends didn't hurt his image either.

Zack blinked in a bemused way as he took in his new outfit, but I just found myself praying desperately for a camera. "This is...nice. Thank you Patti."

"Yer welcome Zack!" Patti beamed pulling out said object of my wants and quickly taking a picture.

"Patti I demand copies."

My demand ended up sounding more like a plea.

"Okay, Kai!" Patti said happily before tossing the camera at me where it disappeared quickly into my bra. No way was anyone going to get the useful piece of technology away from me. Now way in hell.

"Patricia Thompson! Why in the world did you dress me as a second rate hooker! If you were going to dress me as a hooker the least you could do was make me a first rate one! At least the clothes are symmetrical," Kid huffed as he crossed his arms over his bright purple and sparkly belly shirt, looking annoyed. I couldn't take him seriously in it, especially when one added the hot pink skirt and five inch heels.

I quickly pulled out the camera to take another snapshot of the annoyed boy before hurriedly tucking it back into my bra when he aimed an irritated glare my way.

"Sorry Kid, but I've never seen a first rate hooker! They're in those fancy places me an' sis could never afford," Patti informed her own partner with a somewhat darker smile than before.

"Zack! Come sit by me!" I chirped, interrupting things before they could get too awkward. As soon as he got close enough I pulled him down beside me and greeted him with an exaggerated, "Good evening Mr. Spike sir. How are you this fine day?" My lips were puckered snobbishly and I winked.

"I'm doing fine Miss, but I just realized I do not know your precious name! Would you do the honor of informing this unworthy one ma'am?" Zack said in a just as exaggerated manner.

"It is Edward dear and I would be delighted to have this dance!" I turned to Patti and said, "Would you mind terribly if I danced with my partner Ms. Gunslinger?"

"Oh, be my guest Ms. Edward!" the blond chirped, getting to her feet. "We can all dance!"

As Patti scrambled to the pink radio we had been messing with a while ago I gained my feet and stretched, the camera becoming more pronounced thanks to my chest pushing it out. It kinda' hurt, but I wasn't going to remove it any time soon. It was the only place it'd be safe if Kid or Zack (mostly Kid at this point though, probably) decided they wanted the evidence destroyed.

Some song by some band came on that I didn't recognize, but it was catchy so I had no problem matching the beat as I threw myself at Zack and we started spinning around the room. There came a point, about ten minutes and three songs later that Zack picked me up and started tossing and throwing me around like a professional performer. The camera nearly flew out of my bra, but it was totally worth it because it was _fun._

We impressed each other all night long, especially when we ended up switching partners. Kid's and my own performance incorporated a lot of flips that he helped me with while Patti's and my performance had a lot of random things thrown in. My favorite one was when we waltzed over to Kid and swung him up onto our shoulders in a weird, make-shift pyramid.

It was a good night and carried on for hours until we eventually crashed. I woke up some undefinable time later though, wide awake and couldn't get back to sleep until I climbed over to Zack and climbed on top of him, falling asleep to the beat of his soul.


	5. Chapter 5

I give up on the format for AO3. I like it – it does not like me.

I ended this chapter a little early. One, I was running late because I had a small bout of writer's block. Two, I really like how it ended. It was just too perfect for the effect I was going for.

* * *

Tumble

Chapter 5

* * *

I dodged the fist aimed at my face by the skin of my teeth. I wasn't so lucky with the followup kick, but hey. At least I tried.

"Keep your guard up!" Sid ordered sharply before he smashed his elbow into my nose.

As blood trailed down my face I quickly blocked the next strike aimed for the back of my head and sidestepped a perfectly executed sweep kick. I reared back and jumped into the air, aiming both of my legs at his midsection. I'd figured out, during the course of my intense training, that aiming for the middle of the body was better than aiming for the face or legs. Bigger target.

Sid dodged the kick with ease and smashed his closed fist across my face for the second time in less than five minutes. I tumbled to the ground, but managed to right myself at the last moment by flipping to my feet. I panted tiredly, fists held protectively in front of my face. I kind of felt like the protective move was a futile gesture at this point since I was already bleeding all over my borrowed clothes anyways, but Sid would ream me if I didn't at least try to put up a mockery of a guard.

I found myself thinking about the past four weeks of torturous training I had undergone while waiting for Stein to create a device that would allow Zack and I to travel to a different world. I had been prepped and trained for this kind of sparring. I should've been able to keep up by now – at least enough to land one blow. Why couldn't I hit him?

I lashed out with my combat boot clad foot, aiming for Sid's face, but my leg was deflected like it weighed nothing more than a feather. It seemed like everything moved in slow motion from that point. My mouth opened slowly in surprise, blood dripping into my mouth and filling my taste buds with copper. Sid's fist coming towards my face for a third time. My body twisting to the side, out of my control and balance completely shattered. I did the only thing I could do.

A few weeks ago I would've simply closed my eyes and accepted the inevitable blow because I knew I was too slow to avoid it and I definitely wasn't good enough to deflect it. Four weeks had passed since then. Four, long, evil, tortuous weeks filled with pain, blood, sweat, tears, and more than a few nightmares that added to my slowly encroaching insomnia. That was then, this was now.

I quickly brought my arms close and wrapped them around me. I sacrificed all pretense of a guard for sheer speed as I spun in a rapid circle, practically performing a pirouette, which worked a little better than I thought it would as I felt Sid's arm ricochet off my side painfully. I jumped, still spinning, and allowed my momentum to bring me to the staggering Sid who was quickly recovering from my attempted deception. My feet planted firmly into his chest. He went spinning away while I popped out of the tiny pencil shape I had molded myself into, feeling a tad dizzier than I'd like.

"Not bad kid," Sid said and I smiled exhaustively, happy that something in my life had gone right for a change. That was, until he socked me in the face for a _third_ time. Fuckin' devil on a pogo stick.

Later, when I had gotten my nose and face fixed up so that I could go into public without looking like I'd murdered an entire family again, I was having an intense discussion with Sid about everything I had done wrong and the few things I had done right. Usually the affair lasted a solid hour because I made a lot of mistakes. Today, it only took forty minutes – a new record for me. Yay.

" – and you could use some more speed training," I grimaced in horror, "not to mention a bit more defense training," once again the grimace. "I really don't like how you're leaving yourself open all the time kid. You're either a glutton for punishment or you have a higher pain threshold than I thought."

It was probably a bit of both, but admitting the first one would probably get me shipped off to a session with some recommended, school approved counselor or worse. God, they could tell _Zack._ They'd done it before and they would do it again. I was still cringing from the last time I got Zack – Zack! – mad at me. It wasn't my fault that I accidentally slit my wrists open! Black Star had crappy aim when he was in I'm-going-to-surpass-God mode. It was just my luck that I ended up ducking into the blow instead of ducking to the side or deflecting it.

"Anyways, you're done for the day. With me anyways." Sid stood, quickly finished his bottled water, and threw it into a nearby recycling can. I watched him with blackened panda eyes that not even my mother would love. How I envied his ability to move without any kind of pain. Bastard.

Yes, maybe I was a little too spiteful for this situation, but come on! Four weeks I'd been training and I still couldn't touch him! It was enough to frustrate anyone, including one hot head of a girl with somewhat pyromaniac tendencies. A.K.A me.

And, maybe I was a little jealous of the fact that Zack's attention had been pretty much taken from me completely in the last two weeks because of ever occurring Heartless issues. I knew it was horrible to feel jealous that Zack was being taken away from me when he was really helping out billions of people, but I couldn't help it. Zack was the only one I knew on this world that I knew would be sticking with me when we left. It was nice making friends, but I was going to have to leave them as soon as Stein finished making the device that would allow us to travel to a different world. There really wasn't a point in becoming attached...which I already was much to my chagrin.

"Yeah. How wonderful. Next session will be with bloody Black Star. _Again._ Except this time he's gonna' chase me up and down the stairs leading to Shibusen and across the city itself instead of just the school. I am really looking forward to it," I muttered sarcastically. I'd been in a foul mood all day and it was only getting worse.

"Kid joining in this time?" Sid asked sympathetically.

I sighed and slumped forward, careful not to spill my water. "No. Worse."

Sid looked perplexed. "Who could be worse?"

"_Stein._"

Now he looked incredulous. "Why in the world would Stein be helping Black Star beat the tar out of you?" Love you too Sid. "He's supposed to be working on that device that will allow you and Zack to get off this hunk of rock."

I shrugged and sucked down another mouthful of water from my straw. Getting socked in the jaw kinda' made it a bit hard to chew or sip. I could ignore it if I wanted, but what was the point of causing myself pain when I would be doing that when I had to eat later.

Sid slapped a hand to his head and groaned. "I don't envy you kid. He's one hard task master."

That was an understatement and he knew it. I remembered the session I peeked in on when class Crescent Moon was taking a test. I thought taking regular tests was hard. They had nothing on Stein's evil test of doom. I think I might've even felt a bit sorry for Black Star.

After talking a bit more Sid wandered away, hands causally stuffed into his jeans pockets while I stared after him enviously. I really was not looking forward to another torture session so soon after my spar with Sid. Whoever came up with this training regimen for me was either crazy or sadistic. I wasn't sure which one currently, but I _would_ find out. For a bit of petty revenge if nothing else.

I didn't know how long I sat on that bench simply dreading whatever fate had in store for me today, but it was long enough that a couple of random kids that wanted use of the basketball court had run through three games before Black Star finally showed up.

"YA-HOO! I am the great Black Star and –"

I slapped my hand over his mouth, mostly for the sake of my bad mood that had become downright scary when confronted with the face of pure, noisy evil.

"Shut up Black Star!" I hissed, glaring.

Black Star frowned right on back at me and huffed, Tsubaki idly resting on his shoulder in "Speed Star" mode. "What's your problem?" A big grin spread across his face as he said excitedly, "It's because you're jealous of the big me right?! That's gotta' be it!"

I sighed and hid my face in my hands as Black Star preened over my imaginary jealousy. The only thing I was jealous of at this moment in time was Zack's lack of attention focused on me and even I realized how petty I was being. That wasn't my problem. I was just sick of being beaten all the time. I bet the kids got to work that issue out on Kishin when they went out on missions. I wasn't afforded that luxury since I wasn't an actual student and I was told straight up by Zack that he was worried I'd jump head first into danger and end up getting all bloodied up again.

I didn't see the issue, but everybody else was a bit disturbed that I _didn't_ get the issue. I mean, I get why they didn't want to see me get injured again, but I kind of think that it's inevitable that it'll happen. Even Zack will get injured if he's jumped by powerful enough enemies.

I sighed once more, tuning back into reality just in time to see Black Star and Stein – who must've showed up when I was tuned out of reality – give me really worrying matching grins. Before I knew it they had exploded into motion, both coming at me with what looked like deadly attacks.

I screamed and darted the opposite direction, mind already focusing on where I should be going to completely avoid the unwanted duo on my tail. If I could anyways. I knew I could avoid Black Star if I tried hard enough, but Stein was an anomaly. I didn't know what he could do concerning me. I didn't know if he would let me be if I managed to escape from Black Star or if he would find me no matter where I managed to hide. I didn't even know what he was going to do if he attacked me. Black Star usually helped me up and we either continued, depending on the severity of my injuries, or limped back to Kid's mansion where I'd patch myself up with Tsubaki's help and die on my bed. What would Stein do?

I decided not to find out and raced across the city, well used to all the nooks and crannies of Death City by now. I discreetly ran into an alley that I knew led to a fire escape and climbed it. Once I reached the top I raced across the roof, the wind whipping my hair into my face despite the fact I had decided to braid it today.

I could hear the rapid footsteps of Black Star behind me, but I didn't know where Stein went. I guess it didn't matter because I was having a hard enough time dodging the chain scythes and the giant shuriken that was being thrown at me. Maybe I should've chosen to be a ninja...

I slapped myself across the face and jumped onto another roof, heedless of the weird look I got from Black Star. This was no time to be making regrets! This was a time of action! Now, how do I lose Black Star and Stein within the next five minutes so I could go get something to eat without looking like a total burnout?

I smiled slyly, an idea slowly taking root. I reached the edge of the roof and instead of jumping to the next building I jumped into the crack leading down into the alleyway below. It would've been the start of a somewhat clean getaway had I not noticed Stein waiting for me down below. He twisted the screw embedded in the side of his head with a dangerous smirk and I cursed.

My feet shot out to the alley walls as I used them to slow down my momentum. It hurt a bit since I was virtually doing the splits in midair, but it did let me veer away from Stein and Black Star so I couldn't complain.

The chase ended up back where it was except I was obviously being chased by Stein this time around. I gritted my teeth and tried to think of another plan.

Three hours later and I had successfully managed to ditch Stein and Black Star, though not without some sacrifice on my part. I gazed mournfully at the empty chocolate bar wrapper in my hand. Throwing these in random directions had manged to distract Black Star at the last moment, but Stein had required a bit more finesse. If I hadn't run through the lingerie shop when I did he most definitely would've caught me.

I leaned back against the pleasantly cool brick wall behind me and let myself slowly regain my breath. I felt the sweat beading on my forehead and wiped it away with my hand. After wiping it on my pants I looked around and tried to take stock of where I was. After the dash through the lingerie shop and the jump over the hobby shop I was feeling a teensy bit lost.

A couple of simple brick buildings greeted my vision as well as a spattering of random trees, but it wasn't until I saw a familiar sign that I grinned in triumph.

"Hello Spinilly's," I greeted the building I was standing in front of in an amused manner. "Nice to see you again."

Feeling decidedly hungry after all that running around and in a better mood now that I'd run all my aggression out I walked inside the establishment and was a bit surprised by what I found.

I knew that the building would be old, but I'd thought it would be in worse shape than it was. However, despite my expectations, the place was clean and smelled like fresh pine, though not so overpowering as to be nauseating. The tables and chairs looked to be made out of real wood as well. Cherry wood if I was correct. There was a bar located on the far side of the small establishment, with a couple people sitting on the bar stools sipping at various alcoholic drinks, though one man was having dinner with his alcohol at least. I thought the bar was rather well set up actually. If any of their more troublesome customers got drunk and out of hand they could probably escort the person outside before they became too much of a problem and without disturbing the other customers too much. Genius.

Since the place said I could seat myself I wandered over to a small table in the corner that had a table cloth on it decorated with cute little skulls like Shinigami-sama's mask. There was already a menu at the table so I picked it up and browsed through it curiously, wondering what a place like this was selling. It turned out to be pretty standard, but there were a few things on it that surprised me. Like lizard stew. I made a face and vowed to never eat something like that unless I was on the verge of starving, mostly because I knew I wouldn't so much as think of it unless I was at that point.

After deciding what I wanted I was just about to close the menu when somebody plopped into the empty chair across from me. I looked up and stared into eyes as dark as my own.

The girl smiled at me, her long silver colored hair thrown back in a high ponytail. Her head was resting on her folded hands as she continued to gaze at me, her smile never wavering. I blinked, feeling a bit confused, but decided to take the high road and greet the strange girl since she seemed to be content sitting in the chair across from me and staring.

"Hi?" I said, though it came out as more of a question than a greeting. If she wanted to share a table than all she had to do was ask, but I don't know if I wanted to if she was seriously going to keep staring at me like a weird carnival prize.

"Greetings Miss," the girl said in a slightly accented voice. There was something about this girl that was kinda' familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. The girl continued her greeting with a, "and how are you this fine day?"

"...Good?" I replied after a pause, the word I meant to say firmly coming out more questioning than I meant to once again.

"That's wonderful!" the girl exclaimed, smile so wide that I thought her cheeks would break under the pressure. How can anyone smile that widely for so long?

"Um," I said, "I'm gonna' order some food now."

"Oh, that's what I came over here for," the girl said, her head tilting to the side as her eyes scrunched closed. "You see, I'm sorta' unsure what to order and I'm new in town and you look like someone who knows their way around a menu so I was just wonderin' if you'd help a girl out." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I know it sounds kinda' stupid, but it would really help me out and I'd really appreciate it. I'm not on a diet or anything before you ask." She waved her arms around wildly, looking more manic than I thought she would. I moved away as discreetly as I could. "I've just been stuck eating out a lot lately so I've pretty much had everything like cheeseburgers and pizza and sloppy joes and ice cream and stuff like that."

"Okay," I interrupted before she could continue, not sure my ears could take another tirade like that. She sounded like _me_ when I was pissed off about something and felt the need to rant. It was somewhat disconcerting to hear when you weren't expecting it.

"Yes!" the girl cheered. I felt the need to strangle her, but resisted. Barely. At least I could still be proud of the long fuse leading to my temper.

"I'm getting chicken and dumpling soup with a garden salad, fish, macaroni and cheese, a fresh bread roll, and milk." I soldiered on talking, hoping that if I continued on that she'd eventually shut up. Or chill out. Either one would be nice. "I'll get you what I'm having. If you don't like it then pick something else." I waited an admirable five seconds for her to open her mouth before getting to my feet to go flag down a waiter or waitress.

After I'd ordered our food and made my way reluctantly back to my table, even more reluctant to give up my seat, I came to find out that the girl wasn't as bad as I thought. Once I got her talking she eventually calmed down and became an almost scarily calm and quiet individual which came as a small shock. I would've pegged her for a prep, but she turned out to be anything but. I couldn't help, but shout mental thanks and apologies for my previously rather mean spirited thoughts.

Before I knew it a few hours had passed and I realized that it was really time for me to be getting back to Shibusen if I didn't want a search party called out for me.

"Hey, thanks for talking with me, but I really gotta' go. My friends are gonna' be worried about me," I said as I stood, putting down a tip since I'd already paid for my meal about an hour ago.

"No, thank you," the girl said with a smile.

That was when I realized that for all my conversing with this girl I still didn't know her name. Which baffled me. My mama would've slapped me upside the head if I had forgotten something so important as that in her presence. Never let it be said that I didn't know my manners. Maybe I just forgot because the girl was a genuine bluestreak.

"I'm sorry," I began in an embarrassed manner, scratching the back of my head in a nervous gesture I'd picked up from Zack, "I forgot to ask your name. My name's Kai."

"Tell me Ms. Kai," the girl said, her eyes going sharp and serious so quickly that it kind of left me reeling, "before you leave can you answer this...question I have for you?"

I sat back down slowly, my eyebrow arching as my curiosity got the better of me. "Sure. Shoot."

The girl's entire body language changed as I watched. The smile that had been ever present on her face faded into oblivion, like it had never been. The pleasant aura that had made the girl seem approachable right from the beginning, even when she was annoying the piss out of me, disappeared like a ghost in a crypt. She seemed...darker, more secretive. I instinctively knew that I wouldn't like what she was about to ask.

"Do you enjoy ruining people's lives?"

My thoughts came to a screeching halt, the cute little mental wolf that ran messages around in my head stopping in its tracks to scream _what?!_

"What do you mean?" I asked carefully, aware of my own precarious position in this argument. My thoughts were already whirling. Was this a generic question? Did she somehow know something about me? If she did, why was she bringing up the subject now in front of witnesses who could overhear and report it back to anyone? I was left with more question than answers so I decided to listen. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as I was thinking. She could just be honestly asking me a philosophical question. It wouldn't be right to dismiss her just because of my own paranoia.

"What I mean is, have you ever felt the strings of fate were placed directly in your hands?" the girl asked, tapping her fingers on the table. "Like, you could do _anything_ you wanted, when you wanted? Like, it doesn't matter if your intentions are good or not, you just know you can if you want to?"

I found myself leaning back in my chair as the girl continued, my face growing paler with every word that escaped from her mouth. She knew. She had to know! How could she be saying everything so on the money if she didn't, but this didn't make any sense! I didn't know this girl, from my old life or this new one I'd been granted. Was she being manipulated in some way? Had somebody put her up to this or was she asking all these questions on her lonesome? I inhaled sharply through my nose, tried not to panic, and started wishing desperately that the girl was just being philosophical.

"Maybe," the girl continued casually, seemingly oblivious to my growing distress, "you even enjoy ruining that person's life? Like, I don't know, a friends? A family that you tore apart with your bare hands. It seems a lot like fate."

The girl's words wouldn't make much sense to any passerby that might overhear what she was saying, I noticed distantly, but taken out of context and spoken directly at me it sounded like she knew. My heart was beating a million miles an hour in my chest, so much so that it felt like it'd explode. How did she _KNOW?!_

The girl then abruptly stood up and brushed any perceived dirt or crumbs off of her bright purple and pink skirt. I watched her go about her business, my view on reality completely shattered once again. Any happiness and peace I had managed to obtain in the time I'd been on this world now seemed trite and pointless with the fact that somebody knew my secret before I could even work up the courage to tell my partner. It sounded like she even knew about Kitty...and...Salem.

"But, that was all hypothetical anyways. You don't have to answer if you feel uncomfortable," the girl said casually, as if she didn't just completely re-break me back to four weeks ago.

She yawned, covering her mouth politely, before smiling and patting me on the head when I didn't rise to say goodbye.

"It's been real Ms. Kai. I hope I'll be seeing you again."

The girl walked past me and was just about to disappear out the door when I finally managed to regain my feet and call out, "Wait. What's your name?"

The girl paused in the doorway, looking back at me with a sort of detached curiosity. "I didn't tell you? I apologize. My name is Anon."

"Anon," I muttered to myself.

The next time I looked up Anon was gone.

* * *

It was dark by the time I wandered out of Spinilly's. The stars were shining brightly in the sky and the moon seemed to leer at me, blood dripping from its mouth. Its silent chuckles pressed against my body softly, like the wind, but made me tremble inside like I was being hunted by some great beast.

I walked down the cement road slowly, gravel crunching loudly beneath my boots. I was unaware of exactly where I was going, lost in thought as I was. I was just walking. Walking down the endless trail of thoughts and dreams.

"Kai? Hey Kai. Are you okay?"

I knew that voice, but I found it hard to muster up the effort that it would take to raise my head from where it was buried in my knees. It just wasn't worth it.

"Come on lazy ass. I've been looking for you for hours."

I was yanked roughly to my feet by my arm. Black Star was quick to start dragging me in the direction he wanted me to walk. I wasn't paying much attention. I still felt too disoriented and off balance to care.

It seemed like we reached Shibusen in record time; like it hadn't passed at all. I started to pay a bit more attention to my surroundings when I thought I sensed Zack. When did he get back? I thought it'd be another week at least before he even thought of getting back here. He wanted to be as involved as he could on locating and destroying the Heartless that were cropping up. It was pretty admirable of him.

"YA-HOO! The big me is back with his prey!" Black Star yelled as he burst into the Death Room, still dragging me behind him.

Shinigami-sama promptly smashed his head in with a Shinigami Chop for being his usual loud and obnoxious self while Zack rescued me from Black Star's death grip.

"KAI!" Zack yelled as I was crushed to his chest, my breath leaving my lungs in one great whoosh of air.

"Hi Zack," I greeted him as soon as I could breathe correctly again.

Zack jerked slightly and stared at me in surprise for some reason. I didn't bother trying to figure out why. He'd tell me whenever he felt it was important enough to come out with it.

I tuned most of the world out again, only perking up slightly when Stein mentioned he'd completed the device and when Zack said we'd be leaving the very next day. That didn't give us very much time to prepare, but luckily I already had a lot of stuff I'd collected over the last month that has accumulated in my room. Plus, I even had some extra clothes. The outfit the Voice had given me had died about a week ago. Unfortunately, they were not magically spelled clothes that magically healed themselves after a bout of harsh sparring. As long as I had jeans and a t-shirt though I'd be okay. I wouldn't want to run around fighting in a miniskirt. I have no idea how Tifa does it.

I ended up saying my goodbyes to everybody in a daze as they promised me they'd wake up and see us off the next day. The whole time I was saying my goodbyes Zack stuck to my side, his brow furrowed with something like worry and anger. It made me wonder what he was angry about, but it was really none of my business if he was angry. I would just mind my own business for now. As it was, I just wanted to go home to my room and think about the things that I'd found out and the things that had been taken from me this very night. I needed to get my thoughts in order and I couldn't do that with people constantly hovering over me.

Zack and I took off soon afterwards. Zack kept turning his head to stare at me and even opened his mouth a few times to talk, but he remained silent and left me to my thoughts. I was grateful for his restraint, but I knew it wouldn't last long.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Zack let out a soft growl and he suddenly gripped my shoulders. Not enough to hurt but hard enough to let me know he meant business. I couldn't blame him. I'd kept a lot of stuff from him and he'd grown to know me a lot, even if he'd been gone on business a lot as well. When you're in close proximity with someone for that long it would be kind of hard not to get to know their personalities and quirks. I just had a cheat sheet and it looks like Zack finally got all the answers right on the test.

"What is wrong with you?" Zack demanded. "You were fine earlier in the day. I saw you. Granted, you were getting chased by that creepy doctor and the kid that reminds me of a younger, more annoying version of me, but you were fine! You were laughing and having fun and you weren't a depressed little pyro like you are now. What happened? Did somebody hurt you? Because if they did I'll kick their ass for you and you can go back to being happy and smiling. I liked you smile Kai! You were actually starting to become yourself again weren't you?"

Zack accusations and questions flew over my head with the weight of an atomic bomb. I sighed and rested my hand on his cheek. "Something did happen today, but it's nothing you can help me with. I just...need to think. Give me a little more time and I can talk to you honestly. I'm not a trusting person by nature Zack. My best friends had to work long and hard to earn my respect and trust and even then I still doubted them sometimes. I'm not perfect Zack and I'm sorry that you got stuck with me. I'm not going to go back to the person that cried all the time and never did anything worthwhile. I promise you that. I was just rebroken is all. All I need to do now is find all my missing pieces and glue them back into a person that I can tolerate again." I patted his cheek and mumbled sincerely, "I'm sorry. I just keep hurting you don't I?"

Zack's eye softened, looking like shiny jewels in the dim light of the moon. "I'm sorry too. I just keep pushing you to share things about yourself that you're not ready to share. I can see that you trust me, but I can also see that there's something inside that pretty little head of yours that's causing you pain. You remind me a lot of Cloud." He laughed softly, expression dimming into sadness. "I miss that kid. He always had his head stuck up in the clouds like you, always over thinking things that one. I just hope you realize that one day that you can trust me and I won't hurt you. You're my best friend."

I flinched. "You don't want me as a best friend Zack. In fact, I'm the worst person possible to be your best friend."

His large hand patted me on the cheek this time, his voice filled with a wisdom beyond his years, "Now, that's my decision isn't it?"

That night, while I was tossing and turning in my own bed, haunted by nightmares and half-remembered memories, I realized that this was the first time that I hadn't gone and crawled into bed with Zack when he was in the house.


	6. Chapter 6

Tumble

Chapter 6

* * *

"Morning everybody," I grumbled as I staggered into the kitchen, trying to smooth a brush through my damn near unmanageable hair. It had decided to kink into a mass of curls and knots last night when I was rolling around like a rolling pin on crack, trying to get comfortable. Seeing the results of my sleepless efforts I decided that – and damn the consequences – I was sleeping with Zack, no matter how much I needed the solitude to think clearly. It was not worth the bad do and I was hyper aware of the fact that I was more concerned over my wild child hair than my own mental well being. Feh. Who needs it?

Kid had his back to me when I came in so he was completely unprepared when he turned around, a smile on his face, and greeted me with a, "Good morning Kai – what the hell is that?!"

"Good morning to you too Kid," I said once more in a wry manner, trying to wrench the latest knot I'd found out of my hair. It wasn't going so well.

"What happened?" he asked in horrified fascination as black smoke started to rise behind him, from the pan he'd been working in so studiously before I came into the room and distracted him with my horrible bedhead. A quick glance at the counter showed he was working on pancakes, something that Zack and I both loved to eat for breakfast.

"I woke up like this," I said, answering his question nonchalantly as I gave up on my hair for the moment and focused on getting Kid distracted before he had another one of his signature fits. I wasn't quite awake enough to deal with one of those. I spotted a distraction almost immediately when I took another peek at the stove. With wide eyes I informed him bluntly, "Your stove's on fire."

Kid jerked in surprise, turned back around, and shrieked as fire flickered and streamed into the air, dancing to a beat unheard by man. I slipped out of the room before I could be dragged into Kid's drama filled morning, especially when I saw Patty and Liz running into the kitchen from the other door. They would take care of him, right after unintentionally sending him into another fit. It was the way of their partnership, but it made me glad that my own partnership was a bit more tame in comparison. Before, I wouldn't care about that random, wild display of affection, but now, in the After, I needed a bit of stability and Zack was the person chosen as that stability.

Speaking of Zack, I better go wake him up if he's still sleeping. He probably wasn't, but it never hurt to see him and I had decided last night that I was going to tell him one of the many truths I'd been keeping to myself all this time. He was right last night, talking about me keeping secrets. He'd kept nothing from me – had called me his _best friend_. That title, to most, may signify something you could cast off, something that couldn't and wouldn't affect you, but I wasn't like that. When I assigned the title of best friend to someone I meant it. I could be hurt by this person. I could be utterly destroyed if this person so chose, but when I gave that person that title it was a conscious choice acknowledging that, yes, I was literally giving permission to this person that they could do with me as they pleased in an emotional context.

Zack didn't know any of that when he called me his best friend. He was just acknowledging the fact that, though we had known each other for such a short period of time in the long run, that I had become his best friend. Before he said that I could have ignored the fact that I thought of him as my best friend too, but he decided to take that brave leap last night and I had practically thrown it back in his face. I wanted to see him to, not only tell him about one of the secrets I most wanted to keep to myself, but to tell him I was sorry as well. No one deserved to have an offer of friendship thrown in their face when it had probably taken all their bravery to come and tell you that truth they'd discovered for themselves.

I stopped outside of Zack's door and slowly slid it open. I smiled at what I saw.

Zack was sitting on a small stool that made him half crouch on the floor in front of an even smaller vanity. There was a brush stuck in his hair and he was tugging on it viciously, trying to drag it out of his thick mane of spikes. Just like my own attempt to do my hair, it wasn't going so well. In fact, I could even say it was _worse_ as, just when I was going to step into the room and help him, the brush broke.

Zack swore darkly and tried to now tug that portion of the brush out of his hair, but it stuck fast. It was almost like trying to get superglue out of your hair. Frustrating and damn near impossible.

Before he could get too frustrated I slipped inside the room and pushed his hands away from his head before he hurt himself too badly on accident. I tugged the broken brush out of his hair with a tenderness I didn't remember I possessed and tossed it into a nearby trash bin. Taking my own hair brush out I began to carefully go through the knots in his hair, doing my best not to pull too badly when I came across a particularly bad cluster of knots.

Zack didn't say anything. He stared into the mirror at me for the first five minutes, something I was hyper aware of, before he relaxed into my tender touches and looked like he was falling asleep. Before I knew it I was done and he had slipped me into his own spot on the stool before I even knew he was moving.

The brush ran gently across my scalp and I practically purred in contentment. He was so careful with me, as if I would break with one bad tug. As if I would fall to pieces and there would be no way to put me back together. Tears formed in my eyes, but didn't fall. I wouldn't let them. Instead I met Zack's eyes in the mirror and smiled; one of my true, loving, happy, beaming smiles. Zack looked startled before he beamed back, happier then I had seen him in a long time.

Zack took a bit longer then I did to do his hair, but mine was significantly longer so it was understandable. I also had the feeling that Zack was taking his sweet time because he could somehow sense I had to talk to him about something, but wasn't too sure about what. Because of his lack of knowledge on this subject, it made him reluctant to engage it. Old SOLDIER paranoia cropping up if I ever saw it. Glad to know that someone else was affected by the same things that I had such problems with.

Soon, too soon to poor Zack's tastes probably, he was done brushing my hair and the mood was silent. Tense. I sucked in a deep breath and decided that I was going to have to bring up why I had come in here in the first place if I ever wanted to get this ball rolling and get things back to normal.

Standing up abruptly I grabbed Zack's hand and dragged him over to his bed, practically throwing him down on it. As he stared up at me in surprise I threw myself on top of him, folded my arms across his chest, and stared at him with all the seriousness I possessed in my soul.

"Zack," I began and swallowed convulsively before I could continue, trying to work up the nerve to force the words that had been plaguing my nightmares past my lips. _I killed one of my best friends. I bashed her head to pieces with a baseball bat, blood flew everywhere, pieces of her skull bones wedging deep, biting into my knuckles. I had to watch my other best friend get raped right in front of me as I bled out on the ground and I think I __**died**__ but I can't be sure because I'm still breathing now, but everything is all fucked up and I don't know who or what I am anymore and everything's just been cooking in my head for the longest damn time and this doesn't even begin to scratch the surface and –_

A hand covered my mouth and I realized that, while I had thought I was thinking those damning words, I had, in reality, let my mouth run on autopilot like it was wont to do when I was scared or stressed. I tensed in preparation for anything. Zack could and would do anything, but he was also very sore about matters dealing with friendship as he had been betrayed before. That was why I had dragged him over to the bed, so that I could feel him, hug him one last time if he decided he wanted nothing to do with me. I expected it – deserved it at this point.

Zack had tears running down his face, his beautiful amethyst eyes filled with a pain I couldn't fathom.

"I killed my mentor you know," Zack said in a wobbily, wet tone that made me want to gather him into my arms and protect him from the world. "What keeps making you think I'll reject you? Did you want to kill your friend? Did you want to watch the other one being violated as you bled out?"

"No!" I yelled, squishing his wet cheeks between my hands. "I would never want that!"

I could feel his smile curving his cheeks in my hands. "Then why should I blame you for that?"

I blinked once at his simple answer, bemused. Finally, I hugged him with all the strength in me and said, "You're amazing, you know that?"

Zack shook his head in denial. "I'm not amazing. _You're_ amazing. I'm older than you and should be able to handle it better. You just pick up your baggage and keep on walking, no matter how heavy it is or how much it weighs you down." His eyes fell as he whispered, "I wish I could do that."

"No," I replied in a steely tone, "you don't. You deal with your emotional baggage in a far more healthy style than I do. I may be able to pick it up and keep on walking, but eventually that baggage is going to break my back just when I need to be able to move the most. You don't have that problem. Just continue being you Zack. You're perfect the way you are."

We fell silent for a few, long minutes before bursting into laughter. We were both a bunch of dorks, but...most of all...

I was glad that we were still friends.

* * *

"Where have you two been?" Kid scolded us as soon as we made our appearance downstairs. He was immaculate as always which was somewhat surprising. I had expected him to still be somewhat out of sorts from this morning's little...fiasco.

"Just been catching up on things," Zack answered easily as he sat at the table ladened with pancakes, syrups, eggs, bacon, a pitcher of orange juice, banana slices, strawberries, chocolate, and some other things I couldn't readily identify. Zack immediately dug into the meal with gusto, happy moans escaping his closed mouth.

I sat down in the chair beside him and quickly made a plate of my own. The pancakes were delicious, as was the bacon. In fact, I had to slap Zack's hands away from the plate, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get seconds.

Liz gazed at us in a disturbed manner. "I'm glad we ate before you two came down here. It looks like I might lose a hand if I'd tried to get something now."

I didn't answer. I was too busy trying to stuff myself as full as my stomach could handle. Ever since I started fighting and training I noticed my appetite had increased exponentially. In fact, I was always hungry. It was weird to see the massive amounts of food disappearing in front of me and then realizing that I was, in fact, the one making all of it disappear. This universe was weird. How did other warriors and fighters make it? No wonder the heroes in manga were always complaining they were hungry! They probably never got enough to eat and then immediately went and burned what they did eat off.

Once we were finished with our meal I went upstairs and grabbed the bag I'd packed beforehand. TOM's head stuck out from the top, enough so that he could see if he ever turned back on, but not far enough that he chanced falling out. I kinda' convinced myself that this was the real TOM. I don't know why – maybe so I wouldn't look so crazy because I've been talking to him, toy or not. Sometimes it's hard to find someone who'll really listen to you or you're too cowardly to really go and find a person that you know will listen to you. By talking to TOM about my problems I took the embarrassment out of the equation.

Zack was already downstairs and ready when I made my reappearance. We said our goodbyes to Kid and the girls and walked to their backyard so we wouldn't destroy anything in case the device exploded or something. It's been known to happen so I didn't get any arguments. In fact, everybody thought it was a pretty good idea. Apparently, nobody had thought of that possibility when we decided to leave today.

I was surprised to find the whole gang outside in the backyard. Zack and I were immediately besieged and gifted with hugs, kisses, tears, handshakes, and very loud voices screaming and crying in our ears. It took a while to separate ourselves from the hubbub but we did...eventually.

Soon Zack and I were in the middle of the humongous backyard and the gang were clustered around the backdoor to Kid's house, all eyes riveted on our forms as Zack tried to figure out how to use the device using the information from yesterday's verbal demonstration. It took so long that I nearly fell asleep on my feet but Zack's sudden yelp startled me awake.

A large hand grabbed my upper arm in a tight grip as a bright light suddenly filled my vision. The ground seemed to collapse beneath me and I was swallowed by darkness, the only thing I could identify being Zack whose hand gripped my arm.

Unlike our last uncontrollable fall through worlds, this one was pretty tame in comparison. It was gentle, with an almost rocking motion that lulled me. Another bright light filled my vision, but it was so fast that I didn't notice what caused it. Zack's grip on my arm tightened painfully and I cried out just before we hit grass.

I don't know how long I laid face first in the grass, trying to work up the energy to roll over so I could breathe. It wasn't weakness for once. The breath was just knocked out of me at the rough landing. At least Zack didn't land on top of me. I would be in a world of pain otherwise.

After a few minutes had passed I had recovered enough energy that I could roll over. I did so, but something felt...off. I wasn't until I lifted my hand to rub some of the grit from my eyes that I realized what exactly was up.

"The fuck?!" I yelped as I stared at cute, soft looking pink paws. _My_ pink paws. I kind of wanted to cry.

"Kai?" Zack's voice called groggily from behind me.

I mentally curb stomped my want to burst into irritated tears and instead turned to see what damage had been done to my partner. I went bug-eyed as I stared up and up and _up_ as Zack yawned, his huge fangs glinting in the light.

"Zack?" I squeaked, a strange feeling of flight nearly overtaking my instincts to run up to him. I was glad for those instincts a few seconds later when Zack opened his eyes, liquid gold boring into my being.

"Kai?" he asked in a lazy tone, something so beyond Zack that it kind of disturbed me on an atomic level. "Why are you a rat? And why do I feel like lazily stalking you, catching you, cutting you open, eating your insides, and savoring the blood on my tongue?"

That's about the time my instincts gave a great big ol' _fuck you idiot_ and I instinctively took off running on all fours.

I ran past a huge object that I recognized as my backpack as TOM's head was still poking out of the top. Then I was in a forest, surrounded by trees that were like a thousand times larger than I was. From behind me I could hear hissing and loud cat noises that seemed to tell me that I set off Zack's own cat instincts by running. Shit.

I ran until my heart seemed to want to burst out of my chest and my breath came in desperate gasps. I ran until I could run no more, a large boulder blocking me on one side, what looked like a river blocking me on the other, and the ginormous tree that was blocking the main path. I skidded to a stop and turned, pressing my back into the tree as Zack came to a stop a little ways from me. He looked positively feral. He didn't even respond to his own name when I called him.

Panting in exhaustion and terror I tried to press impossibly into the tree behind me. This was it. I was going to die – killed by my own partner nonetheless. What a way to go.

I couldn't help the petty thought of, just as Zack pounced, _I hope you never get the taste of rat guts out of your mouth...don't blame yourself though._

I know. I know. Kind of hypocritical and redundant of me right? I'd like to see you come up with something eloquent to think when your partner, in the form of a giant cat, is about to eat you. Nothing coming to you? ...Thought not.

That was when I was grabbed roughly, my stomach attempting to escape right out of my skin and through my throat. Not very far to travel now that my body was as small as the palm of my hand.

"Hang on tight!" a high voice squeaked in my ear and then we were soaring past the possessed Zack and high up into the trees, so high it seemed like we could touch the very sky –

– then we were coming back down at nearly lethal speeds. I think I screamed, but I couldn't be sure. The wind was too loud in my ears. Or maybe it was because my head was bigger than my body now. Couldn't generate enough air to scream. I'm a bit confused on that point. I didn't really want to know in the long run. Ooh, if I ever saw Stein again I was gonna' kill him. Or take that screw embedded in his skull and use it to perforate his eye. Yeah. That one sounded nice.

When we hit the ground it took everything I had not to simply slump to the ground and start frenching it like it was my first boyfriend. My action was halted before it could even start by the rat that saved me. Er, hamster. I recognized it now. I was most definitely in the Hamtaro universe since that was who was standing in front of me at this very moment. God, sometimes I wonder if you don't get some sick kick out of messing with people's lives. A hamster. Why a hamster of all things?!

"Run!" Hamtaro squeaked at me just before he took off like a bullet. He ran on all fours and made a cute "bada-bada-bada-bada" noise every time his tiny paws hit the ground.

I stared after him with what I'm sure was a dumbfounded look on my face until I heard a loud hiss a little ways behind me. I took off after the tiny thing after that. I refrained from running on all fours though. For one, I didn't know how and for another I really didn't feel like flashing the general populace with the image of my hoo-ha. Kitty and I had done that once and had gotten the police called on us. That wasn't an experience that I cared to repeat anytime soon.

I was led through a rock-bridge like object and into darkness, leaving Zack and his hissing, spitting self far behind. I was a little worried about leaving him by himself, but it was only going to be for a little while hopefully. I knew he could handle himself for at least that long and I'd be up to get him before too long, plan to get him back to normal or not.

We ran until we came to a wooden door, deep underground. There was plenty of noise coming from behind the door. It almost sounded like there was a party going on inside or something, which might not be too far from the truth. I had seen an episode to that degree before and it had been...interesting for a lack of better words.

I halted at the door and my ears automatically perked up, trying to get a lock on the noise. I frowned and rubbed a paw over the giant ear on top of my head. Damn things. If this was what it was like being a furry you could count me out. It might've just been because I had suddenly changed into a rat – er, hamster but my ears were very sensitive to any kind of noise. I was very reluctant to follow Hamtaro into the noisy room. Crap, what did they call it? The Ham-Ham Clubhouse or something? Man, I needed some chocolate or something. Fuck the world. Er, worlds.

Hamtaro's ear twitched as he held out a small, pink paw towards me. I took it, giving it a firm shake.

"My name is Hamtaro! That was a close one, huh? What's your name?" he asked in his squeaky voice.

"Kai," I replied, my own voice startling me. Damn, but was my voice high compared to even Hamtaro's. This was going to annoy me but fast.

"It's nice to meet you! Why don't you come on in and I'll introduce you to the others."

I was dragged through the door, despite my reluctance, where I was then introduced to Boss, Bijou, Panda, Cappy, and Snoozer. I greeted them and mingled to the best of my abilities, trying to blend in. I needed to get out of here and go try to find a way to get Zack back to normal, but how in the world was I going to do that? I wasn't exactly Merlin the freakin' wizard here, nor was I some insanely lucky individual like Sora. My dilemma left me somewhat stumped so I just shrugged and agreed to let Hamtaro and Bijou teach me how to do one of their cute little dances while I gave my brain a rest. A part of me might have also still been a little irritated with Zack for trying to eat me, but that was another story.

Time passed in a blur while my thoughts continued to spin in circles, trying to figure out a way to get Zack back to normal and fast. That thought rang especially true when I agreed to go with Hamtaro on a small trip to get some sunflower seeds with Oxnard and Pepper. Zack came like out of _nowhere_ and nearly eviscerated me. Luckily, I managed to dodge at the last second right before I – rather vindictively might I add – took a chunk out of Zack's nose with my ginormous teeth. I hoped it scarred damn it. This was getting ridiculous.

The worst, and I do mean the absolute _worst_ thing though, was that I was still sleeping horribly which only served to make me a real irritable jackass. I've always had a bad habit of spitting out the first hurtful words to appear in my mind, but not to this extent. I found myself having to sensor myself over nearly every little thing. I love the show Hamtaro, don't get me wrong, but they were annoying as all hell after a while in real life. This was one of those world's you should only visit for a day. Unlucky for me I was forced to stay for a week until I eventually came up with a tentative plan of action to get Zack back to normal.

My plan was simple, but effective. I was going to run to the device Stein had given us back in the Soul Eater world and, when Zack got his crazed out pussy cat self close enough I would stomp on the button and we'd be out of there. See? Simple, easy, and...I just jinxed the hell out myself didn't I?

As soon as dawn peaked I was out of the Ham Ham Clubhouse and making my way through the underground tunnels that Boss had dug. The Ham-Hams that I'd met and befriended had already thrown me a party the night before so I had already said my goodbyes. At least that was one less thing to worry about.

I came to a stop just inside the mouth of the small cave that would lead me directly to where my and Zack's stuff still was. At least the big idiot was good for something. He only lost his shit around anything that was small enough to eat. He was still himself when he was away from all that, though that just meant I had to listen to his wailing apologies all night. Forget my big mouth, that guy could hit decibels I didn't think was possible for a guy.

Looking around carefully and sensing Zack not too far off I bolted from the entrance, deliberately drawing attention to myself. As I expected, Zack's kitty-cat interest were peaked and he began stalking the hell out of me, being all sneaky like. I wanted to grin but refrained. He may have been half out of his mind but even he would suspect something if I started grinning like an idiot.

That was about the time when my brilliant plan took a swan dive to shit city.

Two cats that were definitely _not_ Zack blasted out of some bushes to the side, something that I hadn't been expecting, like, at all. So I bolted, panicking like a sumofabitch and wishing that I had thought this plan through a little better. I mean, it wasn't my fault that I wasn't that proficient in magic, but Zack could've resisted the urge to go crazy for at least ten minutes to tell me how to change him back to normal!

When the bags came into sight I was exhausted from dodging attacks from three different directions. It was official. I hated cats, but they did do me the favor of boosting my speed to get me to my destination faster. It would've taken me a lot longer if I had been running normally.

Ignoring the cats for the most part I darted right up to the remote and pressed the button, using my whole, nearly insignificant body weight. I was sick of the antics and wanted to be _done_ already. The only thing was –

– ...it didn't work.

I stared at my feet, gaping at my unfortunate, bloody freakin' luck. I was still staring when the three cats, fighting over my squishy bits in a tangled ball of cat fury, landed right on top of me and smashed me into the mother fuckin' button.

This whole situation just had to be illegal and as soon as I found the person pulling all the strings, they were going to go just as splat as Mayu from Corpse Party. I guarantee it.


	7. Chapter 7

Tumble

Chapter 7

* * *

The familiar, yet disorienting, swirling darkness wrapped itself around my being until it felt like I was being sucked through a very narrow tunnel in space. I scowled darkly, trying to ignore the weight on top of my tiny form. I was surprised I wasn't knocked out from the impact of three comparatively larger frames squishing my own much smaller body into paste. It made me wonder if I was getting tougher or if I was just getting used to all the shit being flung randomly in my direction. Neither thought warranted much comfort.

When the light from the new world I was going to land on blinded me I was ready. As soon as my feet hit the ground I punched the newly transformed Zack full in the face and then flung the two stray cats that had tried to eat me in a random direction, ignoring the fact that I could now probably be classified as an animal abuser. I had reached the limits of my patience for the week. I needed something to fill my belly and then something to punch into paste. Then, and only then, would I be content enough to not cause anybody more bodily harm. Zack was different. He could handle my pissed off abuse.

There was suddenly a loud, piercing scream from the direction I flung the alley cats. It almost made me want to go see what my rage fueled actions had done, but my stubborn nature collided with my concern and well...the stubborn, angry side of my personality won out.

Drawing a deep breath through my nose I turned on my heel and stomped in a random direction. On my way I kneeled down and, without stopping, grabbed my bag that had miraculously made the journey with me to this unknown world. I pulled TOM from the bag and cuddled him to my chest, wincing as I accidentally pressed him into the fresh gash across my chest that Zack had ever-so-nicely gifted me with. I hoped I broke his nose.

Turning TOM around I stared into his pretty blue visor. I caressed his slightly warm cheek with a thumb, feeling my irritation fade slightly. I bowed my head, TOM resting gently against the upper part of my chest once again. I whispered, "Sometimes I think you're the only one who knows everything and trusts me regardless of my foolish choices."

The wind kicked up at that moment and blew dirt into my eyes. I blinked rapidly, tears spilling down my cheeks. I shifted TOM to one arm and used my free hand to rub at my eye harshly, trying to get the grit out. My guard was completely down in that moment, so it didn't really come as a surprise that something knocked me flat on my back and took up the entirety of my lap as its personal space. I guess I was just lucky that I didn't lose my grip on TOM. At least one thing has gone right today.

Tears still streaming down my face I sat up, pushing myself with my only free hand. When I caught sight of what was in my lap I froze in shock, staring down at the pretty, red haired girl who was purring. Purring like a damned cat _in my lap_. What the hell?

It took me a few minutes to snap out of my daze. In that time my body had apparently been on autopilot as I was now fully sitting up, TOM was now on the ground, leaning against my hip, and I was petting the pretty girl I now recognized as Ranma Saotome from Ranma ½. Also, one Akane Tendo was standing right in front of me, red in the face and looking like she wanted nothing more than to pound me into paste and feed that paste to a duck. Oy vey.

"Is this girl your lover?" I asked in as innocent a tone as I could muster, not up to dealing with the chaos that would inevitably foist itself onto me if I stayed long in Ranma's presence. Still, I couldn't help teasing the hot head of a girl just once. It was practically expected of me at this point.

Akane flushed a beautiful red color and quickly started yelling denials and hurling accusations of the perverted sort at the happily content Ranma who was taking a snooze on my lap. Wonderful. Great. Now if only she would wake up soon. Then I could dump her on Akane, go get something to eat, and then maybe track down somebody not _too_ important to the plot to maim.

It took an hour for Ranma to wake up from her nap and when she woke up she was, thankfully, back to her normal self. Akane and I had moved against a building instead of continuing to sit in the middle of the street. Akane was even nice enough to drag Zack out of the street for me. Apparently I'd knocked him out with that last punch to the face. Who would've thought I had that kind of strength? I sure didn't. I guess anger adds a lot of strength to a person's attack. Or it could just be this world. I didn't know. Just another thing to ask Sora when, or if, I get the chance.

As Ranma sat up, her hair all sleep mussed and her eyes the very definition of "bedroom eyes" I felt my anger draining away until only a small spark remained. It would take a bit of effort to make my temper go off this time thankfully. Being in this universe was a bad influence on me. In my own universe my temper would've never gotten this outta' control. Then again, I also had a lot more healthy – and unhealthy – outlets to take my frustrations out on. Dear everything, I missed my video games.

"Well, good morning sleepy head. Nice to see that I make a comfortable pillow," I said in good humor, shooting a wink at Akane who giggled.

Ranma flushed and backed away so fast I thought she might get whiplash. She started stammering and stuttering her way through an awkward apology, but it was so pathetic that I simply patted her on the shoulder and asked if she would like to make it up to me if she was that upset about taking a cat nap on my lap. Ah, bad jokes. I crack me up.

"What do you have in mind?" Ranma asked, looking a little strained. I couldn't say I blamed her what with her colorful history. Luckily for her I wasn't after anything weird.

"A meal, shelter, and some training," I answered firmly, "for me and for my partner. It shouldn't be more than a week, but if it is I'll do some chores around the house to earn my keep." I patted Zack's scarred cheek, drawing Ranma's attention to him. "This is Zack and he'll be happy to help as well. So, do we have a deal?" I held out a hand, waiting for my request to be either rejected or accepted.

Ranma and, very surprisingly, Akane were quick to answer in the affirmative, but they were also quick to warn me about Happosai. I told them I didn't mind; that Zack would probably just turn him into some pulped up remains of a human, but I don't think they believed me. I didn't really care if I was molested anyways. This still didn't feel like my body even though I was currently inhabiting it. If I got molested, I have a feeling that I would view it in a nonchalant way; like an anime girl getting groped and then hitting the main character.

Once the arrangements were made with Ranma and Akane, I bent down and threw Zack's unconscious body over my shoulder. I had to make a real effort to avoid bashing his brains into the pavement and it wasn't even me being vindictive. Zack was just a freakin' giant and I was shorter than him. As simple as that.

The way to Akane's house was shorter than I expected, but it was also one of the longest journeys I've had the pleasure of making. At least Zack woke up and kept me company while Ranma and Akane fought off suitors, spurned lovers, fangirls/boys, wacky hijinks, and misunderstandings galore. I didn't envy Ranma's life at this moment. I didn't envy mine either, come to think of it...ah well. I needed to stop thinking so much. It was bad for my health.

Anyways, Zack wasn't mad at me for losing my temper with him. In fact he continued to act like a kicked puppy the whole time we were walking until I got sick of his pitiful, woe-is-me stares and stated clearly that I forgave him already and that if he didn't quit with the looks I was gonna' deck him again. My chest throbbed at my words, my cut flaring up with pain until I couldn't breathe. Maybe getting run over by three giant cats did more damage than I thought. I felt that I should be embarrassed at this little piece of information, but all it really did was reinforce the fact that I was hungry. Starving actually. Maybe they had broken a rib. I didn't have enough medical knowledge under my belt to tell for sure.

I took an experimental deep breath and winced. It didn't feel broken, but it definitely felt bruised. Wonder if I could get Zack to heal me up a bit before Ranma's training commenced. I know he wasn't that good at healing spells, but if I could just be healed a little then I could probably make it through the training I had willingly subjected myself to. There came a consequence with following that path though. If I told Zack he might've bruised or even cracked one of my ribs than he'd probably go into a depression that would take quite a bit of effort to break him out of. I imagined it and found myself shuddering. No thank you. I'll take the (maybe) broken rib over a sulking Zack any day.

When we arrived at our temporary place of residence I was unsurprised that Akane, Ranma, and I were assaulted as soon as we walked in the door. Ranma protected Akane using her own body and screamed bloody murder when Happosai inevitably nuzzled her breasts with his wrinkled face. Seeing this kind of thing on a TV screen is hilarious, don't get me wrong, and it was pretty funny in reality too except when that kind of perverted behavior is directed at you it isn't as funny as one would think. It was kind of violating if one wanted to be truthful. I mean, it's one thing to get molested by your friends, lover, or people at a convention, but a hundred something, lech of an old man? It really does make your skin crawl.

Zack tried to defend my honor as best he could, but we both were in no way ready for Happosai's lechery. That was why when he buried himself in my boobs I just let him nuzzle away. I made a face, sure, but it was easier to ignore him than to try and fight him. As long as he didn't try to burrow his way inside my shirt or my pants he could do whatever the hell he wanted. So long as I got my food.

Akane and Ranma seemed amazed at the fact that I could ignore Happosai nuzzling away at my boobs. I admit it kind of hurt because he was a rough little lecher, but I felt avenged when Zack grabbed Happosai by his mostly bald head, amethyst eyes glowing demonically, and promptly kicked the old man to America. The funny thing was that Zack managed to do that without breaking anything as he'd simply turned around and punted Happosai out the still opened door. Now that took some skill and a kind of self control I didn't currently possess. Maybe one day I could be as outwardly composed when all I wanted was to murder someone. That day was – obviously – not this day.

"You know, I never did get yer name," Ranma said slowly, deliberately, as she subtly shifted herself in front of Akane. Unfortunately, Akane noticed and took extreme offense by bludgeoning Ranma in the back of her head with a magically appearing mallet. I wonder if she could teach me that. It would really surprise my enemies if I pulled a random weapon from nowhere. Imagine it. You're facing twenty enemies, you're surrounded on all sides with no weapons, you reach behind you and then BOOM! Random weapon in your hand. Hell, I really wanted to do that now just for the sheer shock factor. It would be hilarious!

"Shut up Ranma! Kai already told me her name and introduced Zack," Zack came out sounding really weird. More like Zack-_ku_ then a simple Zack, but I digress, "while you and him were both unconscious. She's from a different world and she even told me about those creatures that have been attacking Japan."

I still couldn't believe that the Heartless were only attacking one country out of the entire world. From what Akane and I had discussed back when our boys were unconscious they were mainly attacking Nerima to add insult to injury. There were a few attacks in Tokyo and China, specifically Joketsuzoku and Jusenkyo. That worried Akane something fierce as Ranma had gotten his curse at Jusenkyo. I had to pretend that I had no idea what she was talking about which annoyed the piss out of me since I did know. At least I had gotten to see Ranma switch from female to male then back to female again and again on the trip over here. It amused the hell out of me, but had made Zack wince in sympathy. Apparently he couldn't even imagine losing his balls which gave me a sadistic urge to go to Jusenkyo and dunk him in the Spring of Drowned Girl. Of course I would never do it, but the urge was there.

"Different world?" Ranma blinked in surprise before she suddenly started laughing so hard that she collapsed to the floor, tears streaming out the sides of her eyes. Between laughs she started to blurt out questions that Zack and I had no chance to answer as she would soon be on to the next question. I eventually got so sick of the laughing that I simply muttered a quick _Fire_ spell underneath my breath before moving onto the kitchen, ignoring Ranma's screams, Zack's rapid apologizing and chanting of _Water_ spells, and Akane's gales of laughter. I seriously needed to make a recording of this kind of stuff so I could just whip that baby out and have it explain this kind of stuff for me instead of having to explain it again and again _and again and again and again and – _

"Well, hello there dear. Who are you?" Kasumi Tendo asked sweetly as soon as I walked into the kitchen. She looked like she was in the middle of making some kind of salad with chicken in it and it smelled really good.

I smiled awkwardly. "My name is Kai Chan. It's very nice to meet you."

From behind me I could hear Zack gasp out, "She has manners. Oh dear Gaia she's been replaced by an alien. An overly polite, shy alien. Imposter! Return my Kai Chan at once!"

I shot Zack a nasty glare while Ranma burst into another laughing fit, joined shortly after by Akane. I could kill the lot of 'em without guilt. Just watch me.

Kasumi giggled, politely covering her mouth in an attempt to muffle her laughter. I ignored everyone as I stepped further into the kitchen and politely inquired if I could help in an attempt to earn my keep. I sucked at the actual cooking part, aside from a few simple dishes, but preparation I could easily manage...maybe. I could handle a few slices on my fingers if I screwed up. I would probably deserve them at this point since I've been training to avoid those kinds of stupid injuries. It was too bad that I was a klutz. The habit of accidentally injuring myself would probably never go away.

Kasumi was happy for the help. We worked well together surprisingly. Then again this was the woman who could turn Akane's horrid creations into something edible. I was nowhere near that level of terrible thankfully, so when I inevitably messed up she could fix it in seconds. She even told me my help was appreciated. Me! This woman needed a vacation. I wasn't going to risk Zack using the device again so soon after it had malfunctioned so maybe she could take that vacation while I fiddled around with it to see if there was anything inside that needed fixing or replacing. All I had to do was ask Zack and, let's face it, I already knew he'd say yes.

And that's how I became the head of a household of chaos for two weeks.

* * *

Kasumi had been more than a little reluctant to agree to the idea of a vacation, but after I bought the tickets with a little help from Nabiki she could no longer really deny my gift without seeming incredibly rude. So, off on vacation she went while I got stuck with all the household duties which I just as quickly divvied up to the other household members. They lived here too. It wouldn't kill them to help.

The thing that I most looked forward to, however, was the training Ranma agreed to put me through. At first he went easy on me, but after I kicked him in the balls he was a little too angry with me to remember that I was a girl and that he didn't hit girls. Of course, as soon as he kicked my ass and got his revenge he was immediately regretful and tried to get on my good side like I was going to beat the shit out of him for telling him to beat the shit out of me. It took me a while to convince him to take me seriously, but after he did I learned a lot. Ranma may have some insane ideas for training methods, but hell, if they worked they worked. He even helped me come up with a training manual for when I left. I almost couldn't wait to leave. There were some ideas in the book that I could only try outside of innocent people's range.

This was another incident that made me realize how much I'd changed already. I used to hate exercising, but now I loved it! I couldn't wait to get up in the mornings and spar with Zack and Ranma. I loved feeling the sweat traveling down the curve of my spine, I loved feeling the give of flesh beneath my fists as I punched my sparring partners with all the strength I had – though that quickly came to an end when I got strong enough to shatter flooring. They said bones wouldn't be too far behind and that they really didn't want to be on the receiving end of that, but I digress – and I even loved the blood and bruises that I ended up with after a hard day of training. It _meant_ something. I actually had a purpose to being here. Granted, strength meant nothing in the long run if you didn't have anything to do with that strength, but I wasn't thinking of that at the time. I was just happy that I was doing something. Something that was fun and made me happy.

I also got to see my favorite character from back when I thought of this world as no more than another manga. Ryoga was cuter in person than I thought. He acted like a little lost puppy like my Zack. I couldn't help but think that his curse form should've been a puppy instead of a pig. He had the kicked puppy dog look down pat and seeing Zack jealous just about made my day. I didn't even think he could get jealous, but I guess he was only human. Everybody feels jealous once in a while, even me, as proved previously.

When I eventually convinced Ryoga to help Ranma train me I had even more of a blast. My resilience to getting pounded into paste went up exponentially. Zack also explained a little more about Tifa's and Ryoga's strength. While they did use soul energy – though they called it a different name – they'd been using it for years. It had soaked into their bodies, slowly changing them until Tifa was naturally stronger than a dinosaur, Ryoga could take getting hit by a truck going at ridiculous speeds, and even Ranma could run faster than a cheetah. Until my body adjusted I would more than likely have to keep relying on subconsciously providing my body with soul energy just to keep up with these juggernauts. Zack did say that I was maturing a lot faster than I should. I wasn't too worried about it. I was from a different dimension. Some things just didn't apply and, besides, there would probably be something down the road that would be detrimental to my health – just to put the universe back in balance if nothing else. Reality loved to screw with me too much to let me get off with something so...easy.

I think my thoughts actually screwed me over as, the very next day even, I was introduced on a more intimate level to Ranma's life.

The day started off like every other day I'd been on this world. I got up, made breakfast, made the annoyingly happy and abnormally awake Zack go kick everyone else awake, woke up Ranma myself when he didn't get his butt up like the rest of the household, then ate breakfast. That usually involved a small fight between Genma and Ranma as they tried to steal each others food, but it was only after breakfast that shit really started going down.

"No," I stated as flatly as I could, not wanting to encourage Ranma nor Akane in the least. I wanted nothing to do with what they were planning. I, myself, had been planning on training some more with Ryoga and Zack while they were at school. I wanted to learn an energy attack since so far I was only chucking fireballs around and not even very strong ones at that. I'd been hoping that they could either help me improve my attack or help my control grow to the point where they would actually be harmful as well as surprising. Which, in no way, meant going to school with Ranma and Akane!

"You have to go to school with us! You've been here for a while and we haven't seen you studying or just hanging out with kids your own age even once," Akane retorted. "All you do is train. That can't be healthy."

"It's enjoyable," I retorted, edging away from Ranma who thought I hadn't noticed him inching closer to me. I knew his tactics well and he wasn't going to catch me off guard.

"But even I don't train all the time and, as much as I hate school, you could make some friends and go hang out or somethin'," Ranma replied, closing the distance between us so smoothly that I reflexively nailed him in the side with my fist.

Akane snickered as Ranma cursed and sulkily nursed his side. I had to resist the urge to hit him again. I was really good at hitting the exact same spot I'd already hit to cause a maximum amount of pain and I'd already nailed him once before when he was picking on Ryoga in pig form again. I thought he knew better than to pick on things littler than him, but I guess not.

Sighing, I tilted my head and asked, "If I go with you this once will you leave me alone about it after that? I really want to get some more training done."

Ranma grinned and thrust his hand out for a shake. I took his hand and shook it gingerly, trying not to cringe as a sense of dread hit me with all the subtlety of a brick to the face.

Something told me that I wasn't going to like what was coming next.


End file.
